See what these 5 policymakers have to say about housing supply

The Toronto Real Estate Board recently released its 2019 Market Year in Review and Outlook report, and it’s full of valuable data and information. We’ve already shared the January 2019 resale housing market figures and a few highlights from the Outlook section, so now we want to highlight what some policymakers are saying about housing supply. 

For the report, TREB sought the housing supply opinions of five policymakers in the Greater Toronto Area. See below for a key snippet of what they had to say, and check out their full statements in the report. 

Steve Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs & Housing, Province of Ontario

“Building more housing will help supply catch up with demand, and that includes more ‘missing middle’ housing. Building more townhouses, duplexes and mid-rise apartments will give the people of Ontario more types of housing to choose from. It will help bring housing costs down and leave more hard-earned money in people’s pockets, right where it belongs.”

John Tory, Mayor of Toronto

“In 2018, for the second year in a row, the City hit and exceeded its target of approving 1,000 affordable housing units. I have set a goal of approving 40,000 units over the next 12 years to increase the supply of affordable housing in our city. To that end, we are kick-starting development on 11 City-owned sites right away. These sites are almost all close to TTC stations and could host affordable housing within mixed-income, mixed-use and transit-oriented communities. This push for affordable housing in Toronto will help all residents, including those who need ‘missing middle’ housing.” 

Bonnie Crombie, Mayor of Mississauga  

“Mississauga was the first municipality to create a comprehensive strategy to bring more affordable housing stock, including low- to medium-density multi-unit housing, on the market for middle-income residents and their families. The goal of our plan is to make 35% of all new development affordable.”

Wayne Emmerson, Chairman and CEO, The Regional Municipality of York  

“Despite being a very affluent community, York Region faces some unique challenges around housing options and affordability, including low rental supply and vacancy rates and increasing costs of home ownership. Between 2007 and 2017, the average purchase price for a home in York Region increased by 154%.”  

David Szwarc, Chief Administrative Officer, Region of Peel

“Today, Peel includes about 1.4 million people in approximately 430,000 households, and is expected to grow to almost 2 million people by 2041. Nearly 32% of all households in Peel struggle to find affordable housing options, including 31% of middle and 70% of low income households.” 

What stands out? 

Based on these snippets of housing supply opinions, it’s clear that missing middle housing is a priority in many municipalities and is being accepted as a solution to the affordable housing issue. It’s also clear that no matter how affluent an area is there are families who are struggling to afford their homes. 

Each municipality has its own strategies to improve housing affordability. We’re eager to see how different areas across the GTA grow and change over the coming years.