'Anything will help': Northern Ontario leaders happy to see federal plans to ease housing crunch

Housing is the hot topic as the House of Commons resumes, and developers and municipal leaders in northern Ontario say some of the plans being pitched should help get more homes built in this region.

The Liberal government is promising to drop the HST from the construction of new apartment buildings, which Greater Sudbury Mayor Paul Lefebvre should "make a difference."

"Anything will help, because the cost is very, very expensive to build," he said.

"From the homelessness and the transitional [housing] right to your regular bungalow that a lot of people aspire to. But as a society, I think that has changed. Rowhouses, more townhouses, in northern Ontario, that doesn't really exist as that entry level. So we got to make it easier to make it happen."

Sam Biasucci, the owner of SalDan Construction Group based in Sault Ste. Marie, also believes the move will get some shovels in the ground, but wants to see more tax incentives for people looking to buy their first house.

"The private home owners that are struggling to get into the home market, should be allowed the same opportunity," he said.

"Every person that comes out of an apartment now and is able to build a house will free up the apartment. So the whole thing should be looked at a little bit broader. But let's get moving, that's for sure."

The Liberals are also touting their $4-billion Housing Accelerator fund, offering cities funding to get more housing built, as long as they remove "exclusionary zoning" such as setting aside whole neighbourhoods as only for single family homes.

Lefebvre said Greater Sudbury is already doing that, but "could be more aggressive" and that "often the impediment" to building is the cost of infrastructure such as water, sewer and sidewalks, which is usually paid at least in part by the developer, and federal dollars could "really alleviate that."

The federal Conservatives are pledging that if they form the next government, they would require cities to increase the number of new homes by 15 per cent every year and that councils that don't hit those targets will see cuts in federal funding.

The Ontario PC government has similarly given larger cities specific numbers of homes they want to see built in the coming years, offering extra funding for those who meet their goals.

Lefebvre said he's "more than happy" to see the specifics of those plans, but is more interested in forming "partnerships" to get more homes built.

Biasucci said he doesn't like to see the finger being pointed at cities and towns for the housing crisis, when all levels of government need to work together with the private sector to find a solution. 

"They take the blame most of the time," he said.

"I have yet to run into a municipality that doesn't work really hard and diligent with the developers to get projects off the ground."