Tyler Shantz Ministry of…

Tyler Shantz
Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing
Municipal Services Office - Western Ontario
659 Exeter Road, Floor 2
London, ON N6E 1L3

RE: ERO 019-5981 City of Guelph – Approval to Amend a Municipality’s Official Plan

On behalf of Fusion Homes, we are submitting the following recommendations in response to the posting of the City of Guelph’s Official Plan to the Environmental Registry of Ontario for public comment on December 5, 2022.

As a leading community builder with deep roots in Guelph, we appreciate the distinctiveness and civic pride of our community. We share that pride in its unique identity as an engine for Ontario’s agri-food and manufacturing sectors, an incubator for scientific discovery and innovative technology, and a training ground for Ontario’s next generation of leaders, which together make it one of our province’s most liveable communities.

Yet for too many, finding a home in our city is out of reach. Guelph, like many Ontario communities, is facing an acute housing supply shortage. Even under the proposed Official Plan currently under review, Guelph is still thousands of homes short of what it will need to fulfill its contribution to meeting Ontario’s target of 1.5 million new homes built over the next decade. If these homes are not built, Guelph’s existing industries will be unable to attract the workforce they need to maintain their critical output, and thousands of local entrepreneurs and graduates will be forced to look elsewhere to establish the next generation of successful enterprises.

Fusion Homes has a strategic role in ensuring that our city remains on a path towards sustainable growth and a liveable future. This is why Fusion made the decision to invest in Guelph, spending $72.2 million to purchase the Guelph Innovation District lands from the Province of Ontario. As the owner and steward of the Guelph Innovation District, we are interested in partnering with the Province and the City of Guelph to realize the exciting vision of a flourishing, inclusive and connected community; one that embraces how residents want to live, work and play while building a foundation to harness emerging economic opportunities.

We respect the principles that guided the City of Guelph’s Official Plan, and more specifically, the Guelph Innovation District Secondary Plan. However, in the decade since those parameters were established, we have collectively experienced transformative change. Many workplaces – especially in the innovative and knowledge economy – have shifted decisively from mass offices to flexible, hybrid work environments that embrace the capabilities of contemporary technology and communications. Striking a balance between work and family life has achieved a renewed pre-eminence, with skilled and in-demand talent pursuing those opportunities that reward productivity, not merely presence.

Furthermore, the need for “workforce housing” – or attainable housing, affordable to working families of industries across Guelph – is critically important. Many prominent employers in Guelph have shared with us that a key barrier to their growth is the ability to attract talent. And key to that talent attraction is the ability of those workers and their families to find attainable housing. By increasing the supply of housing in Guelph, we firmly believe we will be contributing to the overall employment base of this city.

Nearly everyone agrees: our housing supply crisis has reached new levels of urgency, which is reflected in the Ontario Government’s commitment to make necessary decisions to get the homes built that Ontario families need. Increasing housing supply is good for our community, good for our economy, good for the employers of Guelph and it promotes the inclusive community we are all striving to create.

With this focus in mind, Fusion Homes strongly recommends the following modifications to the City of Guelph Official Plan, regarding the Guelph Innovation District Secondary Plan:

• Amend Land Use to change a portion of lands designated as employment to residential and mixed-use, recognizing the City has a surplus of employment lands and a significant need for new housing units to meet the Province’s directed housing unit target
• Amend Built Form Elements to increase flexibility on building heights and allow for a greater number of housing options
• Amend the Block Plan process to reduce red tape and enable completion of the Block Plan to run concurrently with required development applications

Through these targeted changes, Fusion Homes will be able to bring forward a transformational, innovation-focused community vision. It will enable us to move ahead more rapidly with building over 4,000 homes – 1,500 more than currently envisioned in the secondary plan – through a mixed-use, variable-density approach that will better unify residential, retail, employment, and other uses to reflect how residents and their families live. It will allow us to accommodate the needs of job creators, thereby maintaining a strong employment base that reflects the opportunities of tomorrow rather than yesterday.

We have enclosed a precise planning rationale and supporting documentation for your consideration. We look forward to continuing our constructive partnership with the City of Guelph and the Ontario Government as we work together to ensure that our city and province remain the best place in the world to call home.

Sincerely,

Lee Piccoli
Chief Executive Officer, Fusion Homes