The current housing crisis…

The current housing crisis cannot be attributed to what occurs at the front end of the planning process (when Provincial land use policies are reviewed for conformity and consistency), but rather to other matters and processes that are generally beyond the control of local municipalities, such as: land costs, construction costs; the bureaucracy and complexity associated with the funding and delivery of affordable and social housing; the length of time it takes for external agencies, including Provincial Ministries, to provide comments on development applications; the length of time associated with the approval of environmental assessments; the lack of financial tools to local municipalities to incentivize development, including affordable housing;
NIMBYism (which often result in significant delays in planning approvals and costly and time-consuming OLT hearings); and the lack of co-ordination between the various levels of government and key stakeholders (banks and non-profit housing corporations).

Although some of the matters above would be addressed in part by the changes proposed through Bill 23, addressing the above matters are equally if not more important to streamline the planning process and increase the housing supply in Ontario.