Ontario’s Big City Mayors (OBCM) Statement on Presenting to the Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure and Cultural Policy on Bill 23, More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022 (Remarks to Committee Attached)

Today the Chair of Ontario’s Big City Mayors, Mayor Cam Guthrie, made a presentation to the Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure and Cultural Policy to discuss Bill 23, More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022.

Ontario’s Big City Mayors (OBCM) support the governments’ goal of building 1.5 million homes over the next 10 years, there is a housing crisis in Ontario and daily we see how this affects our residents. There are parts of Bill 23 that are positive, however we are concerned about unintended consequences of other aspects that we believe will impact our ability to build homes faster.

“The impacts of proposed changes to development charges (DC’s) on municipal revenues have not been fully considered. This revenue is critical to supporting the infrastructure required when building new homes,” said Mayor Guthrie, Mayor of Guelph and Chair of OBCM. “We are asking the province to activate the Housing Supply Action Plan Implementation Team, first announced in the Spring, and that a review of the proposed changes to DC’s and Parkland Dedication Rates are the first on their agenda.”

OBCM believes the key to attainable and affordable housing is all partners working together to find solutions that reduce home prices, create green spaces, and include a sustainable funding model to address critical infrastructure deficits outside of the property tax base.

OBCM is also asking for an extension of the commenting periods for the more than 20 regulatory and environmental registry postings under the More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022 so that recently elected municipal councils can work with the province to get this right.

“We want to thank the provincial government for asking us to speak on this bill, and to the other organizations who presented to committee on Bill 23 for the insights, knowledge and recommendations they shared as we work together to create legislation that will benefit all Ontarians,” said Mayor Guthrie.

**Remarks to Committee are attached

About Ontario’s Big City Mayors

Ontario’s Big City Mayors (OBCM) includes mayors of 29 single and lower-tier cities with a population of 100,000 or more, who collectively represent nearly 70 per cent of Ontario’s population. OBCM advocates for issues and policies important to Ontario’s largest cities.

Media Contacts

Mayor Cam Guthrie, Chair
mayor@guelph.ca
519-829-6430

Michelle Baker, Executive Director
Michelle@ontariobigcitymayors.ca
647-308-6602