Ontario’s challenges with building new homes to support a rapidly expanding population are not getting better anytime soon, according to a new report from the Smart Prosperity Institute.
The study, which was authored by Canadian economist Mike Moffatt, found that Ontario is eighth among provinces when considering how many homes have started being constructed per 100 newcomers.
It says that across the province, 29 homes or apartments were started for every 100 newcomers over the past six years. This is compared to Canada’s top dog, Quebec, which sees 47 housing starts per 100 newcomers over the same period.
“The province of Ontario, along with Ontario municipalities, needs to enact a series of substantial reforms, from zoning to development charges, if they have any hope of solving the housing crisis,” Moffat opined.
The trickle-down effect when one looks at municipalities is also not a pretty picture either, according to the study.
It says that only three municipalities with more than 51,000 people – Pickering, Oakville and Kitchener – were among the top 20 in Canada in terms of housing starts.
On the flip side, the bottom 20 was littered full of 13 Ontario communities as Aurora, Brampton, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Ajax, Windsor, Burlington, Halton Hills, Sarnia, Sault Ste Marie, Sudbury, Thunder Bay and North Bay all finished near the bottom.
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There are also issues with municipalities not building proper apartment style housing as well as Toronto is the only community among the top 20 per capita in Canada as it comes in at 15.
The high cost of housing as well as a weak economy has also seen Canada’s biggest province suffer from reverse migration as well.
“Ontario’s inability to build housing, relative to other provinces, is also creating a brain drain,” Moffatt noted. “Over the last four years, over 100,000 more people have moved out of Ontario to other provinces than have moved from other provinces to Ontario.”
The study also said that things in Ontario are not likely to improve anytime soon as recent CMHC data showed that housing starts between January and October were down 13,000 in Ontario and up by 14,000 across the rest of Canada.
It also pointed to Ontario’s 2024 Fall Economic Statement, which projected the province to see less than 100,000 units a year pver the next three years as a sign that things are not looking up.
“The province is in dire need of substantial reforms if it has any hope of addressing the housing crisis,” the report read.
The author of the study said that the lack of new housing “has led to record-low vacancy rates, soaring rents, record foodbank use, and an unofficial estimated 234,000 people experiencing homelessness.”
