Our Big Housing Mess.
Good Morning Markhamites,
Hope everyone enjoyed the last few days, as cold temperatures and a light dusting of snow are set to return this weekend. Gross.
Did you know Unionville was recently listed as “one of the nine cute small towns you can visit using your PRESTO card”? We don’t even need our PRESTO cards—how lucky.
Today’s read time is less than 4 minutes.
All three levels of government want to tackle housing, but it’s a bit of a mess.
It’s no secret that Canada is in a housing and affordability crisis. So much so that all three levels of government are desperately trying to pave a path forward for cities and towns. But it’s all a bit of a mess as they all have competing ideas about how to get there.
This week, the City of Markham announced that it has been awarded 58.8 million from the federal Housing Accelerator Fund program to help Markham build 1,640 affordable and rental housing units over the next three years.
This funding comes from proving to the Feds that the City is actively trying to find new innovative solutions to fast-track development. The Markham Review has a great rundown of what’s included in their plan. The gist is that they will reward developers for building affordable and rental units, try to increase density around transit hubs, like the Cornell bus depot and other places along the Highway 7 BRT, and reduce the minimum parking spaces required (a.k.a. The same concerns residents have about the Markville redevelopment plan, but everywhere in the city)
Meanwhile, the province is actively working to increase funding to municipalities that hit their “Housing Starts” targets, which include retirement home beds. But Municipalities in desperate need of housing ( like Markham and Richmond Hill) are still raising the alarm that “Housing Starts” is not a metric they can control and are falling well below their targets. Municipalities can fast-track the development process, but there’s nothing they can do to control when a private developer puts shovels in the ground and starts pouring foundations.
The province is going so far as to treat this like a game show, where they show up and do press and get some publicity photos in some cities with laughably small targets. (For example, Stouffville’s 2023 target was around 340 new housing starts and achieved 642; Markham’s was around 3300 as of November, was only 1,032) and outright deny funding to municipalities that don’t hit their targets, further exacerbating the issue.
Meanwhile, Paul Calandra is promising changes to the housing bill to help build 1.5 million new homes by 2031 once the provincial budget is tabled at the end of March, but he is light on details at the moment.
So, the recap: The Feds want Municipalities to remove red tape and increase density without considering things like livability or access to infrastructure, while the province says it is doing everything it can while holding its version of a money-in-the-bank wrestling match and punishing cities with huge targets over a success metric they cannot control.
Community Notes
Markham Boy, 17, was charged with stunt driving after getting clocked going 229 km/h on the 407
Unionville Residents receive doorstops to deter auto thieves
Georgina becomes the moral compass in setting policies to address rising homelessness in the region.
Markham Student publishes novel with hopes of inspiring young readers.
What’s Happening in Markham this Week?
March 14th
6:30 PM - Rouge River Brewery - Trivia Night - $6 per person at the door
March 15th
7:00 - 9:00 - Rouge River Brewery - Live music night ft. Female Musicians
7:00 PM Friday Open Mic Comedy at Laz Authentic Cuisine. Tickets here
March 16th
3:00 PM and 8:00 PM - Flato Markham Theatre - The Celtic Tenors - Tickets here
March 17th
2:00 PM - Flato Markham Theatre - Sound of Music Sing Along - Tickets here
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