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<\/a>Photo:\u00a0Viktor Birkus<\/a>\u00a0\/ Adobe Stock<\/em><\/p>\nOntario\u2019s residential building association is urging the premier to make changes that will help to meet the province\u2019s target of creating 1.5 million homes in the next decade.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, the Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON) announced that it had sent a letter to Premier Doug Ford<\/a> highlighting \u201ccritical steps,\u201d that should be taken to produce more housing in the province. In its four-page letter, RESCON outlined recommendations to end exclusionary zoning, digitize the development approvals process and reform the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) to allow more newcomers to work in construction, among other suggestions.<\/p>\n\n \u201cThe government has already taken many positive steps to address the housing and skilled trades shortage and we appreciate that, but there are inefficiencies in the development approvals process and further actions are necessary in order to keep up with demand and ensure that our industry can meet the housing supply target,\u201d said Richard Lyall, president of RESCON, in a press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe must address these issues as they will dissuade building investment and hamper the economic recovery of our province,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n To remove barriers that impact the creation of housing, RESCON recommended in its letter to the premier that action should be taken to end exclusionary zoning and establish province-wide zoning standards, a step that would spur missing middle housing development. Municipal development planning and building permitting processes should also be reformed to tackle inefficiencies and process challenges, the letter stated.<\/p>\n The association noted in its letter that the More Homes for Everyone Plan<\/a> \u2014 a bill focused on the creation and development of Ontario housing \u2014 incorporates some of the recommendations proposed in the Housing Affordability Task Force Report<\/a> that was published in February. RESCON called the bill a \u201cgood first step,\u201d towards increasing housing stock. However, the organization stated that a pathway to implement all 55 recommendations from the Task Force\u2019s report \u201cis needed for 1.5 million homes built within the next decade to come to fruition.\u201d<\/p>\n