TORONTO, September 12 — The story begins with a question the Residential Construction Council of Ontario says it cannot yet answer with a yes. Nearly a year after Ontario rolled out a wave of housing reforms, new home construction is still struggling, and RESCON is convening a free online housing summit on Sept. 23 to examine whether those reforms are working.
The event, Housing Summit 6.0, carries the title “Housing Reform: Is It Working?” It runs from noon to 5 p.m. and is open to the public and media, who are invited to register. It will bring together industry leaders, policymakers, market analysts, real estate professionals, planners and pollsters to identify gaps in policy and chart a path toward hitting housing supply targets and improving affordability.
The numbers behind the summit
Speakers will provide an overview of the crisis, present the numbers, probe how tariffs will affect construction costs, explore fixes, and look at what the future holds. Confirmed speakers include Build Canada Homes CEO Ana Bailão, Toronto Regional Real Estate Board chief market analyst Jason Mercer, and Federation of Rental-housing Providers of Ontario president and CEO Tony Irwin. At its heart, the summit is about a gap that has not closed.
RESCON president Richard Lyall said the housing crisis is one of the greatest economic and social challenges facing the nation and must be resolved. Recent government measures have provided some much-needed help, he said, but modest progress is not the same as success.
Housing construction continues to fall far short of what is needed to restore affordability and meet future demand, Lyall said, and the housing policy, taxation and approvals system needs to reflect current realities, not yesterday’s conditions.
The cost of building, and the cost of waiting
The tax burden on housing remains high. Taxes account for 36 per cent of the cost of a new home, and in the Greater Toronto Area municipal charges can add well over $100,000 to the cost of a new home. The approvals system remains cumbersome and lengthy, with approval timelines in the GTA that can stretch well beyond 18 months, creating hefty carrying costs before a shovel hits the ground.
Housing starts and completions are also falling short. Ontario is nowhere near reaching its goal of building 1.5 million new homes by 2031; about 1.24 million more homes would have to be built by then, and completions and starts total around 260,000 units since 2022.
To hit the target, Ontario would need over 218,000 starts per year for the remaining timeline. CMHC’s fall housing supply report indicated that Toronto must increase annual housing starts by at least 50 per cent over the next decade to restore affordability to pre-pandemic levels. Lyall called the numbers an eye-opener that should spur policymakers and governments at all levels to align their policies to support Ontario’s homebuilding industry, particularly by lowering the tax burden, reducing red tape and speeding up the approvals process.
Some steps have been taken, he said, but the seriousness of the crisis requires quick and decisive action to make temporary HST rebates and development charge reductions permanent. He warned that the potential economic consequences of doing nothing could be devastating.
Who is behind the event
Sponsors of the event are the Federation of Rental-housing Providers of Ontario, Toronto Regional Real Estate Board, Enbridge, and LiUNA Local 183. RESCON describes itself as the province’s leading association of residential builders, committed to providing leadership and fostering innovation in the industry. What unfolds after Sept. 23 will be the test.
The summit is billed as a search for gaps in policy and a path toward supply targets and affordability — and the speakers lined up suggest the industry intends to press its case in public rather than wait for the next round of reforms.
