Ottawa's new housing dashboard
The provincial government wants to see 151,000 homes built in Ottawa over the next 10 years.
Lots of reading & listening on the topic of housing this week.
The provincial government wants 151,000 homes built in Ottawa over the next ten years. How are we doing so far in the first year? This week Ottawa’s Planning and Housing Committee received the first Residential Dwelling Approval Pipeline report, covering the first quarter of 2023.
Some rough math: Based on completions, we’re on track for 85,400 homes over ten years, or 56.6% of the 151,000 goal. Or if you base it on building permits issued, we’re on track for 127,480 homes over ten years, or 84% of the goal.
David Herle interviews Jennifer Keesmaat about cities. Her suggestions to get more housing built: eliminate the HST on new rental buildings and affordable buildings; reduce municipal development charges; invest in education for skilled trades; hire more adjudicators to move files through the Ontario Land Tribunal faster.
Carolyn Whitzman: Canada’s progressive parties have lost the plot on the housing crisis. “We need to scale up non-market housing, which was as much as 25 per cent of construction between the mid-1960s and mid-1980s, then virtually disappeared with the federal government’s retreat from housing policy in the late 1980s and early 1990s.”
Jen Gerson: Want to ease Canada’s housing crisis? Let’s start by being responsible about international student visas. Ontario’s tuition freeze is leading colleges and universities to admit more international students which is exasperating the housing crunch in many cities.
Efficiency in CRE with Mateo Chiyangi. Mateo interviewed me about housing in Ottawa. We touched on the approval process, affordability, converting offices to housing, transit, sustainability, and more.