Making housing more affordable in Barrie isn’t just a matter of floor space, city councillors heard Wednesday night.
They approved a new affordable housing strategy to guide the city toward housing affordability this year and beyond, as resources and budgets allow, and have city staff bring forward an implementation plan, including budget requirements. They would report back by next June.
But councillors found as much wrong as they found right in the strategy, which still needs final council approval Jan. 17
“I really do believe, incredibly strongly, that the biggest threat to our next generation is not being able to own, is to be renters forever,” said Mayor Alex Nuttall. “And I believe renting forever equates to financial servitude, and paying somebody else’s mortgage, and making somebody else rich, and what it does is it expands the gap between the wealthy and the poor.
“And that’s why we have to have something, something that shows opportunities for home ownership,” he said of the strategy.
Coun. Clare Riepma said housing numbers in Barrie are daunting.
“Some of the numbers that really struck me are that we have now 350 net new rental units in the last 20 years,” he said. “We haven’t built any, really, when it comes down to rental units and the net increase.
“We have 5,000 renters living in unaffordable or unsuitable units and we have something like 3,000 households (families) waiting for social housing,” Riepma added. “Whether you’re renting or whether you’re trying to buy, we are for the most part in this city unaffordable unless you’re making a serious amount of dollars.”
Coun. Jim Harris mentioned the increasing number of college and university students, and the impact they have on neighbourhoods, is also a factor.
“If you casually do a drive around the east end you’ll see most of the properties advertised as investment opportunities, not entry family homes,” he said.
Nuttall also said the causes of unaffordable housing, such as the effects of immigration levels, are not adequately dealt with in the strategy to this point.
“There is a mathematical issue that exists in this country right now … that says we have this many people coming into the country but we’re only making this many homes,” he said. “We didn’t build enough rental, there’s not enough social housing that’s being built.”
Michelle Banfield, the city’s director of development services, noted there are several residential development projects on the go right now that will add to the city’s affordable housing stock.
Affordable housing is a range of housing types allowing families and individuals, of all income levels, to find suitable places to live without spending a disproportionate percentage of their income on housing. Affordable housing can include ownership, rental or subsidized housing.
The affordability threshold of the community by income, for both the ownership and rental market, defines the maximum affordable purchase price and maximum monthly rental rate, based on housing costs, at 30 per cent of gross household income.
But the affordable housing strategy outlines several ways to address housing affordability.
Those include undertaking a comprehensive review of Barrie’s zoning bylaw, which is underway, updating the city’s existing incentive program and increasing the annual budget on affordable housing, using public land for new affordable housing, also underway, and working toward shorter approval timelines. Also, creating a program connecting those interested in new housing partnerships, enhancing the Simcoe County secondary-suite program for Barrie, enacting a rental replacement bylaw to preserve existing rental stock, exploring more inclusionary zoning in the city and encouraging the public to voice their opinions and concerns about growth, density and affordable housing.
If approved by city council, staff would work on an implementation plan and provide annual updates with a new affordable housing report card.
The affordable housing strategy focuses on action to improve housing affordability across Barrie, although it’s important to note the County of Simcoe is the city’s housing service manager, by the Housing Services Act of 2011, and is responsible for providing services such as emergency shelters, transitional housing and social housing.
The affordable housing strategy, done with N. Barry Lyons Consulting, also recommends the community improvement plan (CIP) for affordable housing be funded with an annual budget of $3 million or more. The CIP received $1.2 million in funding for 2024, $660,000 (55 per cent) is allocated to the affordable housing CIP.
The CIP provides financial incentives for eligible projects that target key planning and growth management objectives for development in Barrie. Eligible projects include affordable housing, brownfield site redevelopment and mixed use developments within the Urban Growth Centre, key intensification areas and the preservation of built heritage.
