Board Applauds Ontario Housing Affordability Task Force Report’s Recommendation to End Exclusionary Zoning

Among the Task Force report’s recommendations include five main areas to quickly increase the supply of market housing to meet the goal of adding 1.5 million homes over the next 10 years. We are especially pleased to see the recommendation that the Government of Ontario should eliminate exclusionary zoning policies that prohibit even modest forms of density, such as triplexes or small apartment buildings in most residential neighbourhoods.

This aligns with recent policy advocacy by the Board, including our policy paper Meeting in the Middle: A plan to end exclusionary zoning and tackle Ontario’s housing crisis, released in December 2021. 

We urge the Government of Ontario to move to quickly adopt this recommendation. 

“Adding to our housing supply is a critical step towards improving affordability across the Toronto region,” said Jan De Silva, President and CEO of the Toronto Region Board of Trade. “Ending exclusionary zoning would help address the affordability crisis that we have highlighted on behalf of the region’s business community. Put simply, this would be good for businesses and good for people looking for homes.;

The work of Ontario’s Housing Affordability Task Force comes in the context of a housing affordability crisis that is creating significant costs for the region’s economy. The Board’s Housing a Generation of Essential Workers reports found that high housing prices are already costing our economy up to $8 billion per year. 

“Ending exclusionary zoning, paired with the report’s other recommendations to make building missing middle housing easier, will help address Ontario’s housing affordability crisis,” said Craig Ruttan, Policy Director, Housing, at the Toronto Region Board of Trade. “Implementing the task force’s recommendations would allow more individuals and families to be able to live and work in Ontario’s major cities, leading to a stronger and more prosperous Ontario.”