RESCON blasts GTA development cost charges

October 6, 2022


Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON) is calling on all three levels of government to tackle the housing supply and affordability crisis by immediately adopting a series of recommendations aimed at speeding up dysfunctional planning approvals processes, allowing more infill development, lowering taxes, and embracing digitization.
“We are in a full-blown housing crisis on a scale not seen in generations and will only be able to build enough homes for our growing population if governments think outside the box and embrace bold initiatives,” said RESCON president Richard Lyall. “It will require an all-hands-on-deck approach by all three levels of government if we are to provide the housing that’s needed. Today, we are proposing effective and specific solutions that can be put in place quickly to address the problem.”
Lyall identified recent Greater Toronto Area (GTA) increases in development cost charges as an example of where reform should be targeted at the municipal level.
Government charges in the GTA are the highest in North America and have increased between 800 and 1,000 per cent in just over 10 years, he noted.
“The City of Toronto has authorized a whopping 46-per-cent increase in development charges over the next two years. This will result in a hike of just over $43,000 for a single or semi-detached house, in addition to the $94,000 already being collected,” according to the RESCON statement.
Municipally, RESCON wants previous increases in taxes, fees and levies—such as development charges—to be reversed or reduced, development approvals process to be digitized, and the use of heritage designations to stop development prohibited. RESCON also wants reasonable densification to be allowed—particularly in Toronto.
Provincially, RESCON recommends that the province mandate major municipalities to have an independent planning and development ombudsman to ensure applications are not delayed. Their blueprint also recommends that municipalities be required to put an end to exclusionary zoning policies that prohibit forms of “reasonable light densification.”
Federally, RESCON wants an exemption or rebate on HST collected on construction of residential buildings, more tax incentive programs, and an immigration system that permits more foreign-trained skilled workers to come to Ontario. Additionally, their plan suggests more efforts be made to encourage skilled workers to consider relocating to Canada and recommends federally-owned land be used for housing.