A unified voice for affordable homeownership in Ontario

Habitat for Humanity’s Ontario Caucus represents 23 local Habitats building affordable homes and operating Habitat ReStores across the province. The caucus advocates to municipal governments and the provincial government on key affordable housing issues.

Ontario’s affordable housing crisis

Ontario is in an affordable housing crisis. 83% of Ontarians say the goal of owning a home in Canada has become out of reach, and 64% worry about having to sacrifice other basic needs such as food, clothing, living essentials, and education to afford rent or mortgage payments.

At the same time, Ontarians believe that homeownership provides stability, strengthens financial futures and community ties, improves health and educational outcomes, and creates opportunities for generations to come.

Advocacy Wins

• HST Relief for new homes helps Habitat as builders and the families we partner with.

• Development Charge exemption for non-profit builders reduces our costs to build.

• Ontario has continued to improve building conditions with legislation to speed up approvals.

Habitat’s Ontario Caucus advocates for measures that can help tackle the province’s housing crisis

We want to help Ontario to protect the path to affordable homeownership

• Include affordable homeownership as an eligible recipient within Ontario’s housing strategies and programs

• Prioritize surplus land for affordable homeownership providers like Habitat.

• Expand existing low-cost financing to accelerate the creation of more non-profit affordable homeownership units.

• Design housing funding programs that prioritize partnerships with non-profit affordable homeownership providers.

• Continue intergovernmental collaboration on affordable housing

We encourage the Ontario government to continue:

• Reducing the taxes and fees paid by builders. This includes lowering development charges, adjusting land transfer taxes, and reducing or eliminating other fees, especially for non-profit and charitable builders.

• Reducing the complexity of application processes, speeding up approvals, and streamlining at all stages of development to reduce the costs and length of time it takes to get people into the homes they need.

• Reforming zoning and permitting across the province to encourage density and the construction of diverse housing types and tenures.

Habitat's Ontario Caucus meeting with Queen's Park leaders