OHBA goal: One million homes by 2031

July 26, 2019

The Ontario Home Builders’ Association (OHBA) is aiming for its members to help deliver a lofty goal: One million new homes by 2031 to meet the demands of Ontario’s growing population.
As the association prepares for its 2019 annual conference to be held in Collingwood in September, Joe Vaccaro, CEO of OHBA, referred to the Ontario’s government’s recent Housing Supply Action Plan and the More Homes, More Choice Act for inspiration. Vaccaro said the industry can help create one million new homes that will be needed to accommodate the 2.6 million people expected to come to Ontario over the next 12 years.
“We recognize that more homes mean better affordability and that in order to meet the needs of new [homebuyers], cut red tape and get shovels in the ground the industry, municipalities and the provincial government need to work together. This year we will be focusing on what needs to be in place, ” Vaccaro said.
To achieve the goal of one million homes in the province by 2032 would require annual starts of 88,000 homes over the next 12 years—an aggressive agenda. In the five years up to 2018, Ontario’s total housing starts averaged only 66,000 starts, including a peak of 75,000 units in 2017. In the first half of 2019, Ontario housing starts were approximately 30,000 units.
The OHBA’s 2019 Conference and Awards of Distinction will be held September 22-24 at the Blue Mountain Village and Conference Centre in Collingwood. The three-day event is sponsored by the Simcoe County Home Builders’ Association.