Ontario builders slam Doug Ford’s 'political football' housing plan

Ontario builders and developers say the Doug Ford government has “overcorrected” when it comes to their housing plan, which they argue amounts to “political football.”

In a public letter released Thursday, the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD)—which represents more than 1,300 home building and land development companies—said the Progressive Conservatives have abandoned their position of leadership.

“In order to distance itself from its own past actions, the provincial government has overcorrected on the housing file to secure its political future at the expense of all future home buyers in the province,” Dave Wilkes, President and CEO of BILD, wrote in the letter.

“Since early fall there has been a series of government decisions that are effectively undermining the ability of the industry to add housing supply for future growth. The province is committing us all to unaffordable housing for generations to come.”

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The letter was released following changes made to Toronto’s Official Plans, which will allow the city to build 8,000 new housing units. In a joint statement issued last week, Housing Minister Paul Calandra and Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said the change was “historic.”

“This collaborative approach will help Toronto achieve or exceed its housing targets and make life easier and more convenient for the millions of people who live, visit and work in the city every day.”

However BILD doesn’t see it this way. Instead, they argue there were 45 requests to the province to adjust the scope of the plan amendment—and these requests would have provided tens of thousands of additional housing units along with employment space retention.

“This is simply the latest in a growing list of decisions made by the province that are undermining the provision of housing and employment space supply in Ontario,” BILD said in their letter.

The province recently reversed expansions to urban boundaries across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area and its decision to carve up the Greenbelt while expanding legal protections to those involved in the decision-making.

BILD argues that these decisions, as well as a recent announcement that the government will be reviewing changes made to development charges and Minister’s Zoning Orders (MZOs), have “created unmanageable uncertainty."

BILD claims these choices have cost nearly 300,000 housing units in the GTHA.

“Even more critical, these decisions are undermining the very investors that are needed to finance new housing developments and call into question the viability of projects that would have added much needed housing supply," the letter states.

The Ontario government has made it their mission to build 1.5 million new homes by 2031. However, many of the actions they deemed necessary, such as the opening up of the Greenbelt or the expansion of urban boundaries, have been reversed following intense scrutiny by provincial bodies.

Earlier this week, the government also said it would be reviewing some of its own zoning tools after finding that some of the development sites were showing a “lack of progress.”

Despite these changes, Ontario’s housing minister is urging municipal leaders and stakeholders to “dream big” and come up with ambitious plans to help spur housing.

The minister’s office did not respond to requests for comment by CTV News Toronto on Friday.