A Massive Boost to Brampton’s Housing Stock Requires More Investment in Transit and Infrastructure

Big housing new this week! Both the provincial and federal governments have announced plans to tackle the housing crisis. 

Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes  

On Wednesday April 10th, The Honourable Paul Calandra, Minister of Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, tabled an omnibus bill called Bill 185, Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act, which aims to streamline approvals to build more homes. The Bill contains several changes to existing legislation, including:  

1. 1. Removing minimum parking requirements near major transit stations so builders can be responsive to market needs, enabling more density and lowering construction costs. 
   2. Establishing a “use it or lose it” policy which will empower municipalities to address stalled development and force developers to get shovels in the ground. 
   3. Limiting “third party appeals” to the Ontario Land Tribunal to reduce project delays. As a measure to offset potential unintended consequences, the province is also looking to modernize consultation and public engagement for new planning applications 
   4. Empower public universities to build student housing faster by exempting them from the Planning Act.  
   5. Provide expedited approval processes for standardized housing designs.  
   6. Reversing development charge phase-in discounts previously introduced in Bill 23, the major housing bill from 2022, after municipalities cited a massive potential blow to crucial revenue earmarked for infrastructure improvements.  
   7. Changes to the controversial Minister’s Zoning Orders (MZO) framework, which introduces a new intake threshold for zoning changes that either align with provincial priorities or are supported by a mayor with “Strong Mayor” powers.  

In summary, while this bill reverses a major change to development charges that would make building “missing middle” housing cheaper to build, it also introduces several changes to approval processes that will hopefully speed up construction. The province also released updated 2024 housing targets for Ontario municipalities. Some municipalities, like Milton and Kitchener, have already exceeded their 2024 targets (and have been rewarded for doing so). Brampton must increase its housing starts by 34% compared to 2023. 

Solving the housing crisis: Canada’s Housing Plan 

On Friday April 16th, the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Finance of Canada, tabled a budget that includes a comprehensive plan to tackle the housing crisis. The power of the federal government is in the public purse and so, they are using financial incentives to steer municipalities and provinces to enact policy to boost housing supply. They are doing so by:  

1. 1. Funding the Apartment Construction Loan programs to the tune of an additional $15 billion, with at least $100 million in low-cost loans to build above shops and businesses. 
   2. Freeing public lands for housing development. 
   3. Investing $20 million in modernizing data collection to make homebuilding cheaper and more efficient.  
   4. Extending the elimination of GST for student residences built by public universities, public colleges, and public-school authorities.  
   5. Providing an additional $400 million dollars to the billion Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) and attaching housing conditions to transit related requests such as removing mandatory minimum parking requirements. 
   6. Launching a new $6 billion Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund which will include $1 billion to support urgent infrastructure needs and $5 billion for agreements with provinces and territories. This funding is conditional on enacting specific pro-housing policy decisions such as: 
      • Allowing for up to four residential units to be permitted “as of right” on most land zoned for one home in residential areas without needing a municipal by-law amendment, 
      • Implementing a three-year freeze on increasing development charges from April 2nd, 2024 levels for municipalities with a population greater than 300,000, 
      • Providing pre-approval for construction designs included in the government’s upcoming Housing Design Catalogue; and, 
      • Implementing measures from the Home Buyers’ Bill of Rights and Renters’ Bill of Rights (also to be announced), 
   7. Investing an additional $50 million in the Foreign Credential Recognition Program with a focus on residential construction to help the construction industry get more skilled trades workers. 
   8. Introducing 30-year amortization for insured mortgages for new home purchases. 
   9. Increasing the capital cost allowance rate for purpose-built rental projects from 4% to 10% to incentivize more construction by increasing after-tax return on investment.  

What does this mean for BBOT? 

All in all, there seems to be some alignment between the province’s housing bill and the new housing plan from the federal government. The Brampton Board of Trade will monitor new developments particularly coming out of the 2024 federal budget. While Brampton has done quite well in housing construction in the past year, we will have to ramp up the number of housing starts for 2024. This means infrastructure and transit investment will only become more pressing.  

We welcome the recent provincial announcement to expand weekday service between Bramalea and Union Station to every 30 minutes during midday and evenings. However, the omission of explicit funding for the Hazel MacCallion LRT extension into downtown Brampton in the 2024 Ontario budget leaves us eagerly anticipating news from the federal government on transit-related funding for Brampton. One of the most interesting parts of the federal budget is a forthcoming “public transit fund”. According to the plan, any community seeking transit funding will be required to unlock housing supply in high frequency transit areas. This could be the answer to the remaining funding for the LRT extension, though funding is slated to be transferred in 2026 at the earliest.

These items and more will be discussed in our upcoming Policy and Government Relations (PGR) Committee meeting on May 2nd. Our advocacy strategy vis a vis transit will remain responsive to further announcements from the federal and provincial governments, but our priority remains to advocate for timely construction, an explicit funding commitment, and responsible use of tax dollars. We hope the federal and provincial governments will show leadership in delivering the best transit solution for Brampton – a city with one of the most ambitious growth plans in the country.