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BILD: A lack of housing is the real issue

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Changes to Growth Plan will help address unintended consequences

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Dave Wilkes is President and CEO of the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD), the voice of the home building, land development and professional renovation industry in the GTA. For the latest industry news and new home data, follow BILD on Twitter, @bildgta, or visit www.bildgta.ca.

Much has been written about the proposed changes to the Growth Plan, the policy that manages growth in the Greater Golden Horseshoe. Many commentators have warned that the changes will bring more sprawl. By using that loaded word, they obscure the real issue we should be discussing: How do we build an adequate supply of housing for people in our region in a sustainable way?

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Right now, we are not building nearly enough to accommodate the 115,000 people arriving in the GTA every year, and our worsening housing affordability attests to that. With the proposed changes to the Growth Plan, the provincial government is taking action to help increase housing supply while continuing to protect the environment.

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As it stands, the current Growth Plan is contributing to exactly the type of problem it was designed to prevent. It calls for municipalities to meet high density targets, particularly in areas near transit, but these established neighbourhoods have been difficult to densify because of community resistance and outdated municipal by-laws. In fact, 70 per cent of the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area still consists of low-density communities, according to a study by Malone Given Parsons, despite having the infrastructure and transportation systems in place to support more housing.

Instead, densification is being pushed to outlying areas of municipalities like Brampton, Vaughan and Pickering, on land designated for future development. Often, these areas are not served by transit, so residents have to drive, contributing to the traffic congestion and emissions that the Growth Plan was meant to alleviate.

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If the proposed changes are implemented, municipalities will be allowed to build increased density within an 800-metre radius of major transit stations, instead of the current 500-metre radius. That will mean more housing near transit. Density targets will vary depending on a municipality’s location and context, which should reduce the pressure to build density in areas that are not serviced by transit and other infrastructure.

We can build an adequate supply of housing in our region in a sustainable way if all levels of government do their part. Municipalities have work to do in making sure their policies work with and not against our common goal of building compact, transit-oriented communities. They need to review outdated by-laws that make it challenging to build even the gentlest forms of density such as townhouses.

When you read another article about the changes to the Growth Plan, ask yourself whether the commentator is addressing the real issue of how we can build enough housing in a sustainable manner. It’s the only way to build a GTA that’s a great place to live, work and play.

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