NEWS RELEASE
CITY OF BARRIE
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The 2024 Municipal Benchmarking Study released by the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) named the City of Barrie as the overall best municipality across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) for getting new housing developments approved.
The city also received top status in the previous two studies, done in 2020 and 2022.
"Barrie’s number one ranking once again in the Altus BILD Municipal Benchmarking Study highlights our city’s strong commitment to driving economic growth and development, while ensuring Barrie remains an affordable place to live, work and play,” said Mayor Alex Nuttall.
“This recognition reflects the dedication of our staff and council to streamlining processes at city hall and creating efficiencies that allow us to build more homes and generate more jobs.”
The study looks at several planning related factors that influence the supply of housing, including municipal approval processes, government charges on development applications, and approaches for dealing with the approval and development of new housing.
For the third study in a row, Barrie ranked first among 16 municipalities.
In this year’s study, the city stood out for the following:
- the lowest approval timelines (on average, municipal approvals for new housing in the GTA take 20 months; while Barrie is 11.2 months on average)
- earning a “best in class” rank for application tracking
- among the lowest municipal fees charged
The study notes that “for the majority of municipalities, it is rare to rank high in all categories. The exception is Barrie, which benchmarks best against the other municipalities for a second study in a row” (page 57, Municipal Benchmarking Study, 3rd edition).
Additionally, Barrie was recognized in the study for adding four units as of right on residential lots and for undertaking a comprehensive zoning bylaw update, both of which will increase housing supply and add more affordable housing options, while creating greater flexibility in land use.
BILD is the voice of the home building, residential and non-residential land development and professional renovation industries in the Greater Toronto Area.
Their 1,200 member companies come from all corners of the industry, including home builders, land developers, renovators, financial and professional service companies, trade contractors, and manufacturers and suppliers of home-oriented products.
BILD is affiliated with the Ontario Home Builders’ Association and the Canadian Home Builders’ Association.
Read the full study at bildgta.ca.
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