TORONTO — NDP housing critic Jessica Bell has tabled a motion at Queen’s Park calling on Premier Ford to require developers to build affordable homes everywhere, not just near major transit stations.
“Ford has created a loophole by permitting big developers to build luxury condos across most of Toronto, when building more affordable housing everywhere is an essential solution to our region’s housing affordability crisis,” said Bell. “Affordable housing policies should apply everywhere, and benefit everyone."
Toronto’s new inclusionary zoning law only requires big developers to build a percentage of affordable units if the project is near a major transit station, because Doug Ford gutted and restricted Ontario’s Inclusionary Zoning law back in 2019. Toronto has requested the authority from the province to apply inclusionary zoning across the city.
If Toronto’s Inclusionary Zoning law is expanded, the City’s new rules would apply to far more developments:, going from an average of 41 per cent of new developments and 62 per cent of units to 56 per cent of developments and 75 per cent of units.
The Ontario NDP has released a comprehensive and bold housing platform that includes expanding inclusionary zoning rules, having speculators pay speculation and vacancy taxes, government investment to build new affordable homes, and zoning reform to spur the construction of thousands of new, private-market homes including missing middle homes in existing neighbourhoods — all designed to give first-time buyers the opportunity to secure the Canadian dream of owning a home.