Ontario Government trying to reach housing targets
December 5, 2023
Paul Calandra
At Ontario's inaugural annual housing forum, Ontario’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Paul Calandra, told representatives from over 75 organizations (including municipal partners) that collaborative effort is required to address the ambitious goal of constructing at least 1.5 million new homes by 2031.
The focus is on expediting construction, despite challenges from high interest rates, labor shortages, and inflationary pressures on building material costs.
The forum, which centred on key themes like housing-enabling infrastructure, barriers to missing middle housing, meeting the diverse needs of Ontarians, and embracing innovations like modular housing, will play a crucial role in shaping the upcoming housing supply action plan. And Calandra emphasized the importance of a close partnership with municipal stakeholders—echoing their shared commitment to implementing recommendations from the Housing Affordability Task Force.
The Ontario government is also developing a modular housing framework to meet Ontario's housing demands and position the construction industry as a leader in building innovative housing.
The proposed ready-to-go Request for Qualification process aims to streamline the identification and pre-qualification of companies interested in modular housing construction. Calandra continues to encourage capable companies to consider pre-qualifying to facilitate the selection of qualified builders more efficiently.