Windsor-Essex builders’ association optimistic about latest housing effort from Queen’s Park

The provincial government has launched new legislation and funding to jumpstart housing construction. CTV Windsor's Ricardo Veneza has more.

The Ford government is trying again to jumpstart sluggish housing construction in Ontario with a new suite of measures getting the ‘thumbs up’ from the builders’ association in Windsor-Essex.

On Monday, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Rob Flack, introduced the new Ontario Getting Homes and Infrastructure Built Faster and Smarter Act as he admitted the province was well off track in meeting the Progressive Conservatives’ promise of 1.5 million new homes by 2031.

“The legislation we’re tabling today responds to recommendations and requests from municipal leaders and will help build the homes and infrastructure Ontario needs,” said Flack in a news release Monday.

According to the Ontario Home Builders’ Association, the suite of measures addresses key sticking points for developers — development charges and approval delays.

Brent Klundert is the chair of the Windsor-Essex Home Builders’ Association (WEHBA) and is similarly optimistic the latest legislation can turn the tide of poor housing starts.

“Down here we’re kind of going the opposite way with DC’s,” said Klundert in an interview with CTV News. “So, I really like to see this movement happening before some of these [charge increases] are coming closer to getting introduced.”

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) most recently reported March housing starts dropped 12.5 per cent year-over-year in centres with a population greater than 10,000 with just 14,924 units recorded across the country compared to 17,052 in March 2024.

In Windsor, that same CMHC report outlines a 36 per cent drop in housing starts for March year-over-year and a 54 per cent drop in cumulative housing starts through the first three months of the year compared to the same period last year.

Klundert says building headwinds have been too strong for too long and have left the industry in a tough position to address the housing crisis reaching much of the country.

“I think we’ve been in the crisis alert mode for quite some time in our industry. When you look at a supply constraint like we’ve had, the red flags have been up for a long time,” said Klundert. “We’re finally starting to see legislation match that, which is absolutely fantastic.”

New measures

The new measures outlined by the province include a push to reduce development charges and grant deferrals while standardizing a host of processes from roadbuilding to project approvals with consistent standards across Ontario.

Much of the details, though, have yet to be worked out.

Klundert points to challenges in navigating the rules and processes that differ in each of the eight municipalities across Windsor-Essex as a costly hinderance both in terms of time and money.

It’s predictability and consistency that are the keys to building new homes, says Klundert.

“Seeing some consistency coming across so we can do the same things and rely on the same infrastructure going from place to place is really nice to see,” said Klundert.

The bill also includes $400 million in new funding targeting infrastructure that supports housing construction, like water systems and the like.

That’s part of what the province bills as $2.3 billion in total funding over four years across its Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund (HEWSF) and Municipal Housing Infrastructure Fund (MHIP) programs.

“We are pulling out all the stops to protect and build up Ontario during this time of economic uncertainty,” said Kinga Surma, Minister of Infrastructure, in a government news release. “Our expanded investments will ensure we can build even more homes, create more jobs, and protect the most critical infrastructure that people depend on every day.”

Despite offering some kudos, economist and housing expert with the Smart Prosperity Institute, Mike Moffatt, criticized the bill’s measures as ‘weak tea’ arguing it does nothing to address approval times and regulatory costs in the Greater Toronto Area — which he notes has the ‘highest housing taxes’ in North America.

The City of Windsor responded to a CTV News request for comment acknowledging the proposed legislation and welcomed the newly announced funding as its staff conduct a review to understand its potential impacts.

“Our staff are reviewing the proposed legislation and will monitor its progress closely,” said Michael Janisse, the senior manager of communications for the city. “We are committed to implementing all changes once enacted, and an in-depth analysis will be conducted to understand the implications and opportunities.”

If passed, the government outlines several changes to housing and infrastructure processes the legislation would enact:

• Spur new construction by simplifying and standardizing development charges based on measures that were developed in consultation with municipalities, including measures that some municipalities have already implemented. Ontario will work with municipalities to continue simplifying, streamlining and reducing costly local development fees that can add hundreds of thousands of dollars to the cost of new homes.
• Remove barriers for Canadian manufacturers who want to introduce innovative materials, systems and building designs that could reduce construction costs and expedite projects.
• Streamline and improve planning and delivery for transit-oriented communities, creating more jobs and housing options near transit.
• Reduce costs and speed up project approvals with consistent building construction standards across Ontario municipalities.
• Significantly speed up getting shovels in the ground to build major transit projects by extending measures in the Building Transit Faster Act, 2020 to all provincial transit projects.
• Simplify, streamline and bring consistency and transparency to development applications, land use planning approvals, and contents of municipal official plans. These changes would make it easier and faster to build residential, commercial and industrial buildings within and across Ontario’s municipalities.
• Ontario’s road building standards can differ across the province’s 444 municipalities, causing unnecessary cost and delays. The province will consult with municipalities and stakeholders by fall 2025 on framework legislation for greater harmonization and clarified governance of municipal standards, which will lead to cost savings through more efficient design and technical review, greater construction efficiencies and streamlined procurement processes.