The Residential Construction Council of Ontario is calling a half-day summit to think up some “bold and decisive actions” to solve the province’s housing crisis.
“We are desperately in need of more housing, and with more than 400,000 immigrants coming to Canada each year, many who will end up staying in the Toronto area, government, developers, builders and other industry stakeholders must come to the table and work together to find a solution,” said Richard Lyall, the associations president.
The group will bring industry, government and other stakeholders to a virtual summit on March 3. Called the “Housing Supply Summit 2022,” it will “feature a number of speakers who will share their experiences, knowledge and opinions on where we need to go from here.”
According to the Smart Prosperity Institute, Ontario will need nearly one million homes to be built over the next decade to meet the needs of anticipated growth of 2.27 million people in the province.
“We are not anywhere near that number for a variety of reasons, a main one being that the development approvals process is too cumbersome and slow,” says Lyall. “We can no longer tinker around the edges. It is time for concrete measures to speed up the development review process so builders can get shovels in the ground quicker. Presently, it takes far too long to build homes.”
