Toronto affordable housing construction at risk due to slashed development fees warns report

Image by: unsplash

City staff in Toronto have warned that the province's elimination of development fees could stall affordable housing construction by July unless assurances are given. A $120m loss in annual funding for affordable housing could hinder the progress of the Housing Now plan. The province has said that municipalities will be "made whole" for the hundreds of millions they will be out because of the change but has not provided any confirmation of how that will happen. Without such guarantees, projects that are set to get underway later this year will be stalled, according to the report.

Last year, the government introduced the More Homes Built Faster Act, which offered builders waivers or freezes on development charges. The policy was intended to help spur growth and help it reach its target of building 1.5 million homes over the next decade. However, without the fees, communities will struggle to build sewers, sidewalks, and roads that service new homes. Toronto's Housing Now plan is part of the city's $1.3bn effort to unlock city land and provide capital funding and other financial incentives to create "purpose-built affordable and market rental housing within mixed-income, mixed-use" communities.

Read the full article on: CBC