Government was once an integral part of building the vital housing we need. Following World War II, a Crown corporation known as Wartime Housing Limited successfully built and managed thousands of units for returning veterans. Canada built 1.5 million of these ‘Homes for Heroes’ between 1943 and 1960 on government land for moderate income households. Since the 1990s though, federal and provincial governments’ housing policies moved away from this, and toward relying on the for-profit private market to deliver the new housing that people need.
What this means for families and people across the province is that housing has never been more expensive to rent or buy.
It's time for the province to resume their historic responsibility for the construction, delivery, and provision of truly affordable housing.
WHEREAS housing has never been more expensive to rent or buy in Ontario;
WHEREAS both private developers and non-profit providers have noted that without access to free land, creating new rental housing is increasingly difficult due to high development costs, and creating affordable rental housing is nearly impossible;
WHEREAS it is more cost effective for Ontario and non-profit providers to build affordable housing than the private sector. Access to serviced public land lowers the building costs from 15-30%, particularly in cities, where land is often at a premium;
WHEREAS this investment is cost-effective, will ensure Ontario builds the kind of homes we need at an affordable price, and will create good jobs and economic prosperity for all regions of Ontario;
THEREFORE we the undersigned petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario that the Government of Ontario should establish and fund a new public agency called Homes Ontario to finance and build 250,000 new affordable and non-market homes on public land over ten years, to be operated and/or constructed by public, non-profit or co-op housing providers.