Niagara and Canada face two simultaneous crises: a shortage of housing, particularly affordable housing, and a climate crisis that is resulting in droughts, floods, wildfires, and more. One demands accelerated construction at the lowest cost possible; the other demands a more expensive approach with higher standards of efficiency and emissions. These must be balanced.

Accessory dwelling units (ADUs), or second suites, are a relatively quick and easy way to create additional housing that doesn’t change the character of a neighbourhood with larger buildings. However, with costs for renovations increasing, the payoff for property-owners takes too long to be worth it.

Communities across Ontario are experiencing increased demand for all types of housing, including housing for post-secondary students. Students occupy rental units that could go to residents if dedicated housing for the students themselves, appropriate to their needs, were available. However, post-secondary institutions do not receive funding from government for housing development, maintenance, or upkeep, and under the dual financial pressures of tuition freezes and international student caps, do not have funding to make the appropriate investments in housing themselves.

Development charges are levied on new and repurposed buildings by municipal governments. This is to recover some of the costs associated with servicing a building with roads, water, sewers, etc. However, these development charges will be reflected in the final price of a home, and higher development charges deter development and increase housing prices.

The City of St. Catharines has amended its Community Improvement Plan (CIP) to allow it to revoke projects that have not entered into an agreement after one year. However, delays in construction are frequently outside the control of developers, meaning that builders may lose incentives they were granted through no fault of their own.

The City of St. Catharines has surplus municipal lands (decommissioned schools, vacated municipal offices, former libraries and fire halls, etc.) which could be used as sites for housing. However, acquiring those properties for development would involve a substantial amount of red tape. A Municipal Development Corporation (MDC) would streamline the process considerably.

The housing supply is in a crisis, but building more houses depends on infrastructure to service them – roads, water, wastewater, etc. The Government of Canada’s contributions to infrastructure are much smaller relative to the taxes it collects than those of either provincial or municipal governments in Ontario.

While Ontario has made strides in power generation from multiple sources and successfully phased out coal, power transmission remains a weakness, not just within but between provinces. Additionally, aggressive growth targets for housing will require upgrades in generation and delivery.

Ontario’s Bill 23 (the More Homes Built Faster Act) and the since-abandoned proposal to develop in the Greenbelt endanger Niagara’s agricultural lands. Canada’s farmland has been slowly shrinking for decades, which threatens food security. The housing we need can be built within our existing urban boundaries, and our farmlands should be preserved.