Who is responsible for Barrie residents being housed?
The County of Simcoe is the designated service manager for the City of Barrie under the Housing Services Act, 2011.
This means the county is responsible for planning, funding and managing social housing programs and homelessness services, along with poverty reduction initiatives and shelter retention programs.
The city can encourage and facilitate the provisions of affordable housing through initiatives, programs and policies; however, the city does not provide or manage housing.
But there are other ways the city has helped, starting with ways to increase Barrie’s stock of housing.
Four residences on one city property was deemed a fit by council in late March, changing the city’s zoning bylaw to four, from three, residential units allowed on one lot.
Earlier that same month, Barrie received $25.7 million in federal funding to fast-track more than 680 housing units during the next three years and help spur construction of 4,100 homes in the next decade.
This money came from the federal housing accelerator fund, which is a three-year, $1.2-billion program designed to encourage municipalities to address the housing supply crisis. Barrie’s plan commits to nine local programs, including permitting four units as-of-right city-wide.
Other initiatives covered by the federal funding include helping stalled developments that already have planning approvals get building permits, by offering incentives and expanding the city’s affordable housing community improvement plan to include forgivable loans for secondary suites.
This spring, council rezoned three city-owned properties for residential development. The properties — 29 and 35 Sperling Dr., 50 Worsley St. and 48 Dean Ave. — have gone on the market to be sold to developers, which could potentially turn them into an estimated 1,375 new units.
Bill 23, the province’s More Homes Built Faster Act of 2022, calls for 1.5 million new homes built in Ontario by 2031.
Council endorsed a pledge in early 2023 with a target of 23,000 new homes built by 2031, in addition to what was already planned.
The residences that would be built from the rezoning and sale of the Sperling Drive, Worsley Street and Dean Avenue homes could help the city make that target, as could permitting four residences per property.
