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Hurdles that stymied new home construction years ago, such as the heavy tax burden, red tape and outdated regulatory protocols, are still in place for the most part, attendees at a housing summit hosted by the Residential ��������ion Council of Ontario (RESCON) were told recently.

“Many of the things that impacted housing years ago are enduring and remain unresolved,” Richard Lyall, president of the organization of builders, said in his opening remarks at the five-hour event.

“If we are to realize meaningful ways to deal with the housing crisis, these issues must finally be effectively addressed – and they can be.”

The summit, an online event, was held Sept. 24. More than 800 people registered.

They heard a roster of construction industry experts, professionals and stakeholders discuss fixes to the housing supply crisis.

Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Rob Flack spoke at the event.

The lineup of speakers discussed the nature of the housing crisis and what is happening, how the residential construction industry got to this point and what solutions need to be implemented.

Lyall said RESCON engages regularly with other associations, unions and a variety of stakeholders and, while some of the industry’s challenges such as taxes, fees and levies and slow approvals have received attention from decision-makers, problems remain and others – such as habitually slow approvals processes, outdated regulatory protocols inconsistent with municipal regulations, and ever-increasing building costs – continue to plague the industry.

“It is of absolute importance that we recognize that having a safe, secure affordable place to live is the foundation upon which other success in life is based,” he told the audience. “It is the core of well-being.

“It’s hard to be a good employee and student or a fully participating member of the community if you don’t have a decent place to live or have one at all.”

Marlon Bray, executive vice-president of Clark ��������ion Management, said there will be few housing starts between 2025-27 which will lead to a housing drought between 2028-30.

Condo sales in the GTA are near zero this year on the heels of a dismal year in 2024. Apartments under construction in the GTA are down roughly 50 per cent from the number in 2022.

“It’s a war on math,” he said, noting the costs of building a home are often more than the revenue from a sale.

The provincial government’s promise to build 1.5 million homes between 2023 and 2031, he added, doesn’t make sense and will fall far short of the target.

“There’s not a chance in hell we are building 1.5 million homes. It basically defies any form of logic. It’s a made-up number that is meaningless.”

The problem, according to Bray, is the tax burden on new housing including development charges (DCs).

Ontario is “ground-zero” of the housing crisis and a decline in residential construction will have a massive impact on jobs, he said, resulting in young people and skilled trades leaving the industry.

He figures there is a risk of losing almost 41,000 construction jobs in Ontario, which would result in a $10-billion economic hit.

Flack told the summit the market is at a standstill in large part because of the economic uncertainty caused by events south of the border.

That has caused buyers to hit the “pause button” and people who were thinking about upgrading, renovating or buying a new home are holding off for the right market conditions, he said.

Flack said government is focused on trying to lower the costs to build and reducing the time it takes to get a building permit, as “it takes too long and costs too much to get housing built today.”

Bill 17, which passed earlier this year, creates the conditions for building housing by deferring DCs until occupancy and eliminating them on long-term care homes, he said.

“It’s not the be-all and end-all but I think it’s good because it improves cash flow for the builders because they do not have to pay up-front DCs so they can get shovels in the ground faster.”

The government also made changes to the Ontario Building Code and, to ensure it is effective, made it clear to municipalities they should not have their own iterations of the code.

Of Ontario’s 444 municipalities, too many require too many studies which prohibits getting shovels in the ground – compared to jurisdictions like B.C. or the U.S., where it takes weeks or months to get a building permit, said Flack.

“It can take years in Ontario and that has to change.”

The minister said it is not the government’s role to be in the business of building new homes. Rather, its responsibility is to create the environment for builders to do their jobs.

“I think there’s people there in the industry that do a really good job. Our job, primarily, is to create the conditions for people to succeed.”

According to Lyall, there is some good news.

In the last major housing crisis in the early 1990s, there wasn’t the same level of taxes and red tape.

“These things can be fixed,” he said. “It’s important that we have the resolve to bring about these changes finally.”