Toronto, Feb. 08, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Greater Toronto Area, February 8, 2022 — The Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) welcomes the new report from Ontario’s Housing Affordability Task Force and its 55 recommendations on how to address the structural shortage of market-based housing and the resulting affordability challenge in Ontario and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
“The Greater Toronto Area’s housing supply and affordability crisis is a generational challenge with broad-ranging social and economic impacts,” said Jason Sheldon, BILD’s Chair and Executive Vice President, Land Development, Remington Group. “The task force recommendations will practically address the root causes of the current housing supply imbalance and deserve careful and serious consideration.”
While the causes of the housing supply shortage in the Greater Toronto Area are multifactorial, the focus on making it easier and faster to build on land inside and outside existing municipal boundaries—particularly undeveloped land—is crucial to addressing the challenges in the region. It’s not a question of choosing between intensification and urban boundary expansion. Addressing the compounding housing shortage will require greater intensification in growth centres, adding gentle density in existing neighborhoods as well as thoughtfully expanding municipalities to provide housing supply and choice.
“Our current housing shortage is a manufactured problem,” said Mr. Sheldon. “The focus on market-based housing is key in this report. While subsidized and government-supported housing clearly has a role to play in building complete communities, the sheer scale of the housing shortage faced by the region means solutions must focus on the primary housing supply and type in Canada, and that is market-based housing for rent or purchase.”
Adequate housing supply is critical to the region’s economic and social well-being. With the current housing crisis in the GTA disproportionately affecting younger and new Canadians, not adequately planning for and accommodating housing needs increases inequity and risks the future of an entire generation of younger Ontarians.
As the voice of the home building, residential and non-residential land development and professional renovation industries in the Greater Toronto Area, BILD and its member companies are committed to working with all stakeholders to ensure the housing and employment spaces needs of the GTA are met.
With more than 1,300 member companies, BILD is the voice of the home building, land development and professional renovation industry in the Greater Toronto Area. The building and renovation industry provides more than 231,000 jobs in the region and $26.9 billion in investment value. BILD is proudly affiliated with the Ontario and Canadian Home Builders' Associations.
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For additional information or to schedule an interview, contact Justin Sherwood at jsherwood@bildgta.ca or 416-371-6005.
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