Building Industry and Land Development Association & Ontario Home Builders’ Association support Ontario’s bold new housing plan

Toronto, ON, Oct. 25, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) and the Ontario Home Builders’ Association (OHBA) support the introduction of the Ontario government’s new, once-in-a-generation housing plan. The More Homes Built Faster Act will make it easier to build new homes more quickly, reduce housing costs, cut red tape and enable the building of the 1.5 million new homes needed in the next decade, increasing supply and bringing affordability back to the province.

“The report of Ontario’s Housing Affordability Task Force, published in February, clearly identified the challenges limiting new housing supply and increasing housing costs across the province,” said Dave Wilkes, President and CEO of BILD. “We are operating in a planning and zoning environment built for an Ontario of yesteryear. It simply takes too long to get approvals, it is too difficult to add the gentle density we need in our cities, and too many fees and charges are layered on to new homes by municipalities. All of this limits supply and drives up costs. The plan introduced today by the government is the clear, powerful transformation we need to solve our housing supply and affordability crisis.”

On average, 25% of the cost of a new home in the GTA is composed of government fees, taxes and charges. This can add as much as $250,000 to the cost of a typical single-family home and municipalities add more than half of that. 

Housing approvals take longer in the GTA and in Ontario than in any other jurisdiction in North America. In some GTA municipalities, it can take almost three years to approve new housing projects, which adds a further $50,000 to $100,000 in costs to new homeowners.

Adding gentle density—missing middle type of housing—is very difficult and expensive due to outdated and restrictive zoning. Land values for new single-family homes have tripled since 2006 as land supply is severely constrained and many municipalities are resistant to expanding their boundaries.    

“The current housing supply and affordability crisis is a policy-made problem that was created in the course of a decade and a half and will take time to fix,” said Luca Bucci, CEO of the OHBA. “It starts today with Ontario’s new big, bold housing plan. The More Homes Built Faster Act  increases accountability for municipalities in enabling the housing supply the province needs, increases transparency on the funds collected on the back of new homes, caps the fees to the economic conditions of the day and removes roadblocks to adding gentle density. Put simply, the government has delivered the regulatory framework to enable necessary change. It has stood up for new and future homebuyers looking to live in our province. The measures it has brought forward will help preserve the competitiveness of Canada’s economic engine.”

-30-

For additional information or to schedule an interview with OHBA, contact Emma Maynard at [email protected] or 416-578-5800.

For additional information or to schedule an interview with BILD, contact Justin Sherwood at [email protected] or 416-371-6005.

The Ontario Home Builders’ Association is the voice of the residential construction industry in Ontario, representing 4,000 member companies organized into 27 local associations across the province. The residential construction industry contributes over $76 billion dollars to Ontario’s economy, employing more than 550,000 people across the province. Our members have the vital responsibility to build the housing supply that current Ontario residents are counting on at all stages in their life and be the voice of future home buyers who want to call our province home. 

With more than 1,300 member companies, BILD is the voice of the home building, land development and professional renovation industry in the Greater Toronto Area. The building and renovation industry provides more than 231,000 jobs in the region and $26.9 billion in investment value. BILD is proudly affiliated with the Ontario and Canadian Home Builders' Associations.

Justin Sherwood
Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD)
416-371-6005
[email protected]