The latest Ontario budget predicts a gradual pace for housing construction in the upcoming three years, casting doubts on Premier Doug Ford’s government ability to meet its target of 1.5 million new homes by 2031.
As per the budget projections, there will be 71,800 housing starts in 2025, followed by 74,800 in the subsequent year and 82,500 in 2027.
Since the establishment of the target, there have been 260,000 housing starts in the last three years. Considering the projections for 2025 and 2026, the province will only be approximately one-quarter closer to its goal by the end of next year, marking the halfway point of the target timeline.
Put differently, construction in the final five years would need an average of about 218,000 homes annually, more than double the pace of the initial five years.
Eric Lombardi, president of More Neighbours Toronto, a volunteer-run housing advocacy organization, commented, “The government should acknowledge that it’s clearly not going to make that target.” He criticized the budget’s housing measures as ineffective, indicating that the Ford government may have abandoned its housing goals.
The key addition related to housing in the 2025 budget is the injection of $400 million into existing programs supporting municipal infrastructure for housing, such as water mains.
Moreover, there is a commitment of $50 million over five years to enhance the province’s capacity in modular housing construction.
The budget does not introduce changes to the core of the government’s housing plan, known as the Building Faster Fund. Launched in 2023, the fund pledged $1.2 billion over three years to municipalities meeting annual targets for new home construction starts.
In 2024, the province disbursed only $280 million from the fund, its inaugural year, following the failure of over half of Ontario’s municipalities to reach the housing start benchmarks in 2023.
The government has not updated its housing start tracker since October 2024. By that time, only 11 of the 50 municipalities had achieved their annual benchmark halfway through the year.
CBC News reached out to a spokesperson for Housing Minister Rob Flack for clarification on the delayed tracker updates but did not receive a response.
