Ford Government announces $ 45 million to cut red tape and expedite applications for new home construction

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has announced a $ 45 million fund to cut red tape and speed up the process of managing and approving applications for new home construction.

Ford, who met with his municipal affairs and housing minister, Steve Clark, on Wednesday, met with metropolitan mayors and regional chairs in the province to discuss the housing crisis in Ontario and work together to come up with strategies to increase the supply of housing. increased, the new streamline development said. Approval Fund will help Ontario’s 39 largest municipalities to modernize and accelerate the house building process.

Municipalities can, for example, use the money to put in place online systems that make it easier for applicants who want to build homes to navigate the development approval process, manage their applications and get timely updates on the status of those applications, the province says.

Zoe Knowles, a spokeswoman for Clark’s office, said the ministry was reaching out to municipalities to provide details on how to access this money. Initial funds are expected to flow next April, she said.

In addition, the prime minister announced on Wednesday that $ 8 million will also be spent on helping large urban centers in Ontario identify potential savings and efficiencies through “third-party reviews” – reviews that could help accelerate the creation of new housing.

In a third, efficiency-oriented announcement, the prime minister pledged to work with municipalities to develop a uniform “data standard” for planning and development applications, to help speed up approval times.

“Built with municipalities, data standardization will help improve data quality, create consistency across systems, make it easier to measure results, reduce costs for businesses and governments, and support municipalities’ transition to digital service delivery,” says The government.

The province has already formed a task force with leaders in the housing industry, including non-profit organizations, indigenous housing groups and economic leaders, to provide expert input on how to expand market housing. The task force will soon provide a report with these recommendations.

The housing summit met privately on Wednesday. In the coming months, input from the summit will be shared publicly, the province says.

“There will be many more steps on the way as we work together to resolve our housing crisis,” Ford said.

“We need to ensure that the unnecessary delays and red tape that prevented housing from being built are a thing of the past,” he later added.

Clark, the minister of municipal affairs and housing, said Ontario needs more housing, which is being built faster, to reduce the “pent-up demand” that is driving up house prices.

“As we continue this important dialogue, our government will ensure that our municipal partners have the tools they need to unlock and quickly locate housing in every community across Ontario,” Clark said.

In a virtual question-and-answer session with the media after the summit, Clark was asked about zoning in Toronto, where much of the city is designated as detached residential areas, and whether this zoning should be eliminated, such as happened in Edmonton, to provide for more “missing middle housing” – middle-density housing such as semi-, terraced houses and townhouses.

“I’m well aware of the Edmonton zoning requirements,” Clark said.

“Many proposals have been given to the (housing task force.). All these proposals are being actively considered by the province,” he told reporters.

Jeff Lehman, mayor of Barrie and chairman of Ontario’s Big City Mayors, said municipalities play an important role in increasing housing supply and affordability, “but can only be successful when there is a collaborative approach with provincial and federal governments. “

In a statement from Toronto Mayor John Tory’s office, spokesman Lawvin Hadisi said that although Toronto “has no shortage of developments,” the mayor’s focus is still on addressing the affordability of housing.

The provincial opposition leaders have criticized Ford’s summit.

Green Party leader Mike Schreiner said people facing a housing crisis “do not care about political streaks,” Green Party leader Mike Schreiner slammed the summit because they had no opposition members. do not have.

He said the Greens’ housing plan, released last June, would increase the supply of housing by taking steps including the construction of 100,000 new permanently affordable rental units, the renewal of 260,000 affordable community housing units, the end of homelessness by the construction of 60,000 permanent supportive housing units and the expansion of zoning options to accommodate duplexes and triplexes “as-of-law.”

Ontario NDP housing critic, MPP Jessica Bell, told reporters that what worries her is the Ford government’s summit has no “concrete measures to make housing more affordable” for everyday Ontarians.

She calls on Ford to take several “urgent steps”.

This includes stabilizing rents by making it illegal for landlords to increase rents between tenants, beyond provincial guideline increases; the introduction of a vacancy and speculation tax on people who do not live in the homes they own and do not pay taxes in Ontario; and zoning reforms that force developers to build more affordable units in every major development.

Steven Del Duca, Liberal leader of Ontario, said in a statement that during Ford’s time in office, the prime minister “only made it harder” to rent or own a home.

The leader says his party believes increasing housing stock, protecting tenants and building affordable housing is key. The party is working on a housing plan and will have more say in the coming months, the leader said.

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