Developers currently hold a…

Developers currently hold a large amount of already approved development land and are not going ahead with building because the market for housing is weak. High interest rates have resulted in a decline in house prices and sales. Demand is low.
To meet the housing needs associated with immigration, new housing needs to be affordable and in areas well served by public transit. Greenfield subdivisions may be easy and profitable for developers, but they are not affordable and are more expensive, less efficient to service (means increased municipal taxes).
Expanding the areas of greenfield for development will not produce housing that immigrants need, and developers will not proceed to build in the current low demand market. They will sit on the lands until house prices increase. Based on the high inflation/ high interest rate/ recessionary periods of the past 40 years, this market situation could continue for a decade.
To meet projected population increases, the Ford government should encourage developers to build affordable housing on the lands they already own, where zoning and services and public transit already exist.