TORONTO – The Ontario government today presented the Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act, complementary to the plan for the construction of 1.5 million homes by 2031: if approved, the legislation – in the intentions of the provincial government – would further strengthen protections for home buyers, it would support tenants and simplify rules on land use planning. 

“Our government is making real progress in addressing Ontario’s housing supply crisis” said Steve Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, as he presented the project with his deputy Nina Tangri in London, Ontario, along with Mayor Josh Morgan and MPPs Doug Downey and Matthew Rae. “Like the rest of North America, Ontario is experiencing difficult challenges that are slowing the construction of new homes: inflation, rising interest rates, labor shortages… despite these problems, our government will continue to take action to ensure Ontario is ready to build more homes as market conditions improve”.

The Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act includes, among other things: a $6.5 million investment to appoint an additional forty judges and hire five Landlord and Tenant Board employees to improve service standards and reduce active applications and decision times; the strengthening of the protections against evictions due to renovations, demolitions and transformations, as well as those for the landlord’s own use; the freeze of 74 different provincial taxes at the 2023-2024 level, including those that directly or indirectly increase the cost of housing; speeding up government approval processes, complementing existing provincial policy with “A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe” to create a single land-use planning policy document across Ontario, focused on housing.

“Our government has consistently focused on the province’s housing crisis since we took office” Nina Tangri said today. “We’ve introduced policies that are helping build more homes across Ontario, but we know more needs to be done. Today’s announcement is the next step in our plan to ensure that Ontario’s housing supply continues to grow over the long term, so more Ontarians can find a home they can actually afford”.

Ontario is now embarking on a sixty-day consultation (running through June 5 on the Province’s website, here) on the new provincial planning statement: this new provincial-level planning policy document “would provide municipalities with more flexibility, create more houses in urban and rural communities, would support local economies and create jobs while continuing to protect the environment (including existing green belt protections) and public safety”, as the Province itself explains in a note released today after the conference press. There is also talk of coordination between Municipalities and Boards to consider education and childcare needs early in the planning process, so that families moving into new housing can also find schools that are ready for their children. The aim is to ensure that cities, towns and rural communities grow with a mix of property and rental housing that meets the needs of people across the province.

In the pic above, Minister Clark and Deputy Tangri with Mayor of London Morgan and MPPs Downey and Rae at today’s conference (photo from Clark’s Twitter page – @SteveClarkPC)