The proposed amendments to O…

The proposed amendments to O. Reg 232/18 will not increase the number of affordable homes in Ontario, nor will it make existing homes/apartments more affordable:

1. This bill panders to wealthy developers, who stand to make a lot of money at the expense of individual citizens. Developers will be exempted from paying development charges that are used to fund the building of required services such transit, waste, and water for new developments. Likely, these charges will instead be paid through increased property taxes.

2. Establishing an upper limit on the number of required set-aside affordable units at 5% (either in number of units, or total gross floor area) is below what many municipalities were intending to implement. For example, cities can currently draft their own Inclusionary Zoning (IZ) policies and many were advocating for up to 30% of new units to be set aside as affordable units. Decreasing the number of affordable units required in new developments will make housing less affordable/attainable for Ontarians.

3. Setting the maximum period over which new units are required to remain affordable at 25 years is shorter than the period that many municipalities have implemented (for example, Toronto has implemented a 99-year affordability period). This will also decrease the number of affordable units in the province.

4. Linking definitions of affordability to average market rents will only serve to make housing in Ontario less affordable for provincial residents. Prescribing that the rent for an "affordable unit" be defined as 80% of the average market rent (rather than setting it as a percentage of the tenant's income) will put rents throughout the province at unobtainable levels for many categories of renters, including single person households, those making minimum wage, and those relying on ODSP.

5. Several cities, including Ottawa and Hamilton, were developing strong rental replacement bylaws, similar to those that exist in Toronto and Mississauga. Bill 23 will instead push cities to follow a “standardized” approach that will result in watered down and blocked versions of the tenant protections that tenants are advocating for.

In addition to serious concerns about the ecological and environmental implications of Bill 23, there are also serious concerns regarding tenants' rights, housing affordability, and housing security.

As a member of ACORN and a tenant in London, Ontario, I am therefore in opposition to Bill 23.