Toronto developer and urban planner Jennifer Keesmaat says Canada’s housing crisis is complex, but she believes there is a way forward towards a fix that involves the creation of good policy, adoption of proven development models and reliance on the skills of experts in the industry.
Keesmaat, the former chief city planner of Toronto who currently serves as CEO of Collecdev Markee, a Toronto developer, was appointed to the National Housing Council by federal Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Sean Fraser on Aug. 29. She will provide advice to the minister to further the government’s housing policy.
“We can get there,” said Keesmaat recently.
“While the challenge of housing all Canadians has never been more complex, I am confident that with determination and collaboration, we can overcome these barriers and pioneer new frameworks for housing delivery.”
Immigration reforms crucial
Keesmaat cited the reversal of federal policy on immigration, Fraser’s move to remove the GST from construction of new rental housing and the rapid adoption of the Housing Accelerator Fund as important policy advances.
She said existing programs to deliver “high-quality, beautiful affordable housing,” including those of her own firm, are going to have an impact.
“I believe that as that model continues to gain traction, and we put a lot of sweat equity into figuring out how to make the model work, and figuring out what the policy mechanisms are to make that model work, and there’s lots of other good people in the industry trying to figure that out too, I think we can recalibrate in a really powerful way.”
Keesmaat said the government’s decision to clamp down on immigration through reforms to the temporary foreign worker and student streams was especially crucial.
“I think we’ve just been through a deeply problematic moment in Canadian history where the government made some terrible mistakes on immigration. I believe that’s in the process of a reset right now, and that will also reset the housing market.”
Keesmaat said she was convinced to join the council in part after observing Fraser’s deft early handling of the housing file after taking over the portfolio in July 2023, including initiating the GST policy.
“He demonstrated very quickly that he is solutions oriented and responsive to the industry,” she said.
And with her background as an urban planning consultant, Toronto planning manager and developer, Keesmaat said, she is in a unique position to offer multiple insights that other policy-makers do not have.
“It was very clear that they really don’t have anyone on the council that actually can talk about the delays in construction,” she said. “This is also about very practical things like, OK, we have a project delayed right now because the province has to sign off…and it’s sitting on some bureaucrat’s desk somewhere, and we’re twiddling our thumbs, and workers are not on a job.”
Three main reasons why developers are not building right now are excessive development charges, high interest rates and the rising cost of construction, said Keesmaat. She acknowledged that she increased development charges while chief planner but at that time they were very low, she said, and interest rates were minimal.
Development charges ‘on steriods’
“Development charges have increased on steroids, I think they’re well over 10 times what they were six years ago.
“All three of those things have basically made a lot of the industry say, we’re out.”
She will not advocate for the federal government to resume the role of major developer of affordable housing as it did in the 1970s and ‘80s.
Instead, it can play the role of an enabling agency, said Keesmaat. The recent release of federal properties to be developed by the private sector in a land-lease model is a positive step, she said.
Her consulting agency The Keesmaat Group has worked in Vienna, Amsterdam, Oslo, Brisbane and elsewhere, she said. The experience has helped hone her recommended model of developing affordable housing in high-quality, mixed-income communities with governments providing incentives to builders up front, locking in affordability over an extended period.
“It’s a great way to build a city,” said Keesmaat. “That is number one in all of these cities that I’ve talked about, ensuring that people don’t get caught in poverty, and ensuring that people can move into the middle class.”
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