Ontario government will spend more—for less housing

From the Fraser Institute

To state the obvious, in Ontario homebuilding is not keeping pace with population growth. This imbalance is driving sky-high home prices and rents, not only in the GTA but many other Ontario cities.

What’s to be done?

In the Ford government’s recent budget, “housing” appears not as a central theme but as one of several areas to receive “support” (read: increased spending) in light of Trump’s tariffs, mainly in the form of more money for local infrastructure.

Specifically, the government will spend an additional $400 million on the Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund and the Municipal Housing Infrastructure program (on top of the $2 billion already committed to these two programs until 2027). The government will also spend $325 million (over seven years) on a joint project with the federal government and City of Toronto for the waterfront revitalization plan, which includes new housing development.

And as part of this “housing” spending spree, the Ford government will continue to spend millions on the Community Infrastructure Fund—which targets smaller communities—and programs to encourage skilled trades, which could support housing development.

So, will Ontarians, including those who can’t afford to buy a home or struggle to pay their rent, get good value for their taxpayer dollars?

For the answer to that question, consider this. The Ontario government has already spent billions on its housing strategy, yet has not moved the needle on housing supply. Even Ford’s new budget with its massive housing “support” includes an abysmal forecast for new home construction. According to the budget, housing starts will actually fall from 74,573 in 2024 to 71,800 in 2025, continuing the decline from the 89,297 new homes started in 2023. And the budget now forecasts that only 303,700 new homes will be built between 2024 and 2027—an 18 per cent decrease from the 370,400 projected in last year’s budget.

This low level of homebuilding puts the Ford government’s target for 1.5 million housing starts between 2022 and 2031 further out of reach. In fact, if the projected average of housing starts from 2022 to 2027 is maintained until 2031, Ontario would fall short of its target by more than 680,000 homes—severely reducing the likelihood of any meaningful improvement in housing affordability.

The Ford government blames the slowdown in housing starts on economic uncertainty and U.S. trade policy. These factors matter, but there’s plenty of blame to go around. Major Ontario municipalities (including Toronto, Hamilton and Markham) are among Canada’s worst performing cities for how long they make homebuilders wait to receive municipal approval to start construction. Ontario municipalities also impose some of the highest upfront charges on new housing development—for example, a high-rise development in Toronto faces municipal charges nearly 20 times higher than in Edmonton on a per square foot basis. More fundamentally, the federal and provincial governments have failed to create the business and investment environment needed to finance housing development. And Ottawa’s supercharged immigration targets have created many more potential homebuyers and renters, driving up costs.

So again, what should the Ford government do?

Ontario’s housing crisis is a big problem with many contributing factors. For its part, the Ford government should focus on low-cost ways to spur housing growth. To the government’s credit, the recently proposed Protect Ontario by Building Faster and Smarter Act, 2025 is one such effort. The bill would require reluctant municipalities to allow more and denser housing development, streamline regulatory hurdles, and help reduce the upfront charges tied to new construction. It holds some promise for accelerating homebuilding.

If the Ford government wants to hit its housing target and offer hope to Ontarians struggling to buy or rent, it must shift its focus from spending to structural reforms. Real progress in the housing front requires cutting red tape and lowering homebuilding costs.

Related Topics:#CanadaHousingCrisis #FraserInstitute #JakeFuss AustinThompson OntarioHousing

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Changes to the law require companies to more rigorously prove their environmental claims.

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President Donald Trump condemned Russia’s largest aerial assault on Ukraine’s capital, calling Putin “crazy” and warning sanctions are “absolutely” on the table if the bloodshed continues.

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Trump blasted Putin for launching nearly 300 drones and 69 missiles into Kyiv, killing at least 12.
Speaking in New Jersey, Trump said he’s “not happy” with Putin and accused him of “killing a lot of people.”
On Truth Social, Trump said the war “would never have started” if he were president and slammed both Zelenskyy and Biden for their roles.

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