New housing law will mean big money for a few, higher property taxes for the rest: Mike Schreiner

Green Party Leader and Guelph MPP Mike Schreiner says legislation enacted Monday by the Ontario government to build 1.5 million homes in the next 10 years will do nothing to build the housing that we "desperately" need in Ontario. 

Meanwhile, Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark has said the More Homes Built Faster Act, also known as Bill 23, is the bold solution Ontario needs, to deal with the province's "severe" housing crisis. 

"This is a bill that will do nothing to address the housing affordability crisis. It will help make a handful of land speculators cash in, turning millions into billions and the rest of us in Ontario will pay the price for that," said Schreiner in an interview with CBC News.

The More Homes Built Faster Act has also been criticized by municipalities and conservation authorities. 

Municipalities have said the legislation will leave them paying for a reduction in developer fees, while conservation authorities have said the law weakens their role as managers of the land. 

"We have solutions to the housing affordability crisis: market and non-market solutions, which the Ontario Greens have put forward," said Schreiner.

"None of those solutions require us to pave over the farmland that feeds us, the wetlands that protect us from flooding and our drinking water and the greenbelt which protects those lands."

Clark said Monday that the legislation would "restore the dream of homeownership for a generation of Ontarians," he said.

A government news release also said the law cuts down on the government fees associated with new home builds — especially when it comes to affordable housing, both for purchase and rent. It also creates a new attainable housing program, increases the non-resident speculation tax to 25 per cent and includes new consumer protection measures, according to the release.

Impact on region and municipalities 

For Kitchener, Garett Stevenson, the interim director of planning for the city, said the bill will be costly for taxpayers.

He said because the bill will be freezing, reducing and exempting fees developers pay, taxpayers will be on the hook for about $40-million in expenses over the next ten years. He said that's just an estimate right now, but the real cost will depend on how many developers will qualify for the reduction in development charges.

In the meantime, he said the city wants to ensure that environmental considerations are still a part of the planning process.

"We will have to work with the Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) and the region through the transitions, to ensure that work is done — maybe in a different way and by different people, but it continues to be a priority," he said.

In a statement, the City of Cambridge said the full impact of the bill still needs to be reviewed, however,  "in the absence of the development fees there will be delayed projects and other funding sources used." 

The City of Waterloo also said it was too early to determine the tax impacts of Bill 23.

Rod Regier, the Region of Waterloo's commissioner of planning, development and legislative services, said the regional government has already been building homes at a record pace — adding that it is possible to further scale up those efforts by 16 per cent, to align with the province's housing goals. However, he said there are many additional considerations. 

"Interest rates have increased, the market has changed pretty fundamentally in the last six months or so and there are sounding questions about labour availability and supply chains and that sort of thing," he said.

However, Regier worries that the bill may impact the regional planning process when it comes to ensuring protections of various systems including groundwater resources and transit infrastructure.