The Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON) is hosting its fourth annual Housing Supply Summit and president Richard Lyall said the event is especially timely as Canada is now in the midst of the worst-ever housing affordability and supply crisis.
The Housing Supply Summit 4.0 — Accelerating change: tackling the housing crisis, will take place online Oct. 9. Lyall recalled when RESCON planned the first housing summit four years ago, one of the goals was to keep a finger on the pulse of the housing industry in the province.
“I said, ‘let’s keep doing it every year to keep our hand on the throttle to see where we get,’” Lyall stated. “When we started this, if you had said to me on the fourth one…do you expect the supply situation to have improved, I would have said ‘yes’ because it was a crisis before we started this, it was a crisis long before that. But we’re actually in worse shape.
“It’s been many years and we’re going in the wrong direction,” he added.
He cited bureaucracy, endless red tape, high taxes and an antiquated approvals system as some of the challenges impacting the new home market.
“Housing starts are down, the condo market is deteriorating to levels not seen since the recession in the 1990s, and we are falling far short of the number of homes that need to be built to make housing affordable and attainable,” said Lyall. “Approval timelines are growing longer and taxes on a new home are jaw-dropping, as they now account for 31 per cent of the price tag, which is only adding insult to injury.”
In the last six months, the population in Ontario grew by 200,000 but the province had only 37,425 housing starts which is 6,577 fewer units from the same period in 2023, a release indicated.
Five big city mayors are expected to attend the conference and participate in a panel discussion including Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, Guelph Mayor Cam Guthrie, Oshawa Mayor Dan Carter, Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall and London Mayor Josh Morgan.
“They want to get into some of the real substance, the challenges that are facing municipalities in order to support housing and residential construction,” said Michael Giles, director of government relations for RESCON. “From the perspective of the mayors there is a real sense that there are some very hard questions to ask about what they need to do in terms of public policy.”
The summit will feature a lineup of elected officials, senior public service decision-makers, housing sector thought leaders and influencers, public opinion analysts who are expected to discuss the challenges, opportunities and policy changes required to improve the housing situation.
Topics that will be discussed include taxes, fees and levies, public policy initiatives, public opinion surveys, market analysis and potential solutions, to name a few.
Confirmed speakers include Tony Irwin of the Federation of Rental-housing Providers of Ontario; Jason Mercer of the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board; Marlon Bray of Clark Construction Management; David Coletto of Abacus Research; David Amborski of TMU; Corey Pacht of Fitzrovia; architect Naama Blonder; and Jag Sharma, deputy city manager, development and growth services at the City of Toronto.
“It’s very rare that you get all these different people together from different sectors,” said Giles. “You’ve got a real cross section of what’s going on in the housing market from rental to real estate sales to development application processes to the political system. There is really nothing that isn’t going to be covered here.”
“In many ways, we are still in the dark ages when it comes to housing approvals,” said Lyall. “The residential construction industry is handcuffed by the extensive labyrinth of restrictive rules, cumbersome processes and exorbitant fees. It’s like a self-inflicted wound. Plans that have been developed lack focus and vision and it will take a serious epiphany to turn the situation around.”
The summit will take place virtually from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m.
To register click here.
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