The 55 recommendations of Ontario’s Housing Affordability Task force are bold, transformative, and could be the turning point in our housing crisis, if the provincial government acts on them.
Unfortunately, mayors and city councillors from across Ontario are opposing the most important recommendations:
- Legalizing four units and four storey buildings across the province
- Legalizing mid-rise buildings along transit routes
- Setting provincial standards for design guidelines that municipalities routinely use to block housing in the name of aesthetics
In a recent example, a Vaughan regional councillor said that the province should incentivize building more homes - just somewhere else, like in Barrie or Orillia. Not to be outdone, the City of Mississauga claims that “broad sweeping changes should be avoided”.
We cannot disagree more. Broad sweeping changes are exactly the kind of legislative action we need right now to tackle our housing crisis.
Our municipal leaders have proven, through their words and actions, that they are unwilling to make the policy choices necessary to end the housing crisis. Given the chance, they will only make it worse.
The provincial government intends to introduce legislation on housing before the election. We have worked hard to advocate for the most important Task Force recommendations, but we need your help to ensure the provincial government acts on them in the face of strong municipal opposition.
Please take a minute to share your support for legalizing housing across Ontario to Minister of Housing Steve Clark and your MPP.
Use our tool to email Minister Steve Clark and your MPP now.
Alternatively, use our sample email content on Google Docs.
And please share this with your supportive friends and family, so we can show our representatives just how many people support legalizing housing across the province.
Thank you for your support,
Jacob Dawang