The Province introduced Bill 109, the More Homes for Everyone Act, 2022, on March 30th, outlining actions to address Ontario’s housing crisis, including introducing changes to municipal land use planning processes.
Richmond Hill Council remains deeply committed to the issue of affordable housing and we continue to make progress on implementing the City’s Affordable Housing Strategy. We welcome the province’s commitment and efforts to address this critical issue in Richmond Hill and across Ontario.
While there are positive measures in this legislation, I want to reiterate that increasing the housing supply is not the singular solution to creating affordable units. In Richmond Hill, there are currently over 11,000 units approved by the City that remain unbuilt by property owners and developers. To see results, we need to look beyond the municipal approvals process. This is a complex challenge and more needs to be done to provide our residents with affordable choices.
I am looking forward to reviewing the details of the legislation and to providing comments back to the Province, to support real, tangible outcomes. We will continue to work in partnership with our residents, all levels of government, the building and development sector, and others, to make housing more affordable for our current residents and for future generations.
