This year, the Ford government has begun working towards the approval of Bill 23, also known as the More Homes Built Faster Act. There’s been an outcry from the environmentalist defence groups and lots of negative feedback from the opposition, some justifiable but mostly overlooking the facts which drive this legislative effort.Many Ontarians vote in favor of present immigration policies and believe in Immigration Plan to Grow the Economy which targets brining in around 500 K immigrants to Canada annually until 2025. Ontario is by far the most popular province for new immigrants coming to Canada. In 2021, Ontario received about half of all new Canadian permanent residents. If these bold Federal targets are to be met, we better create more housing, any way we can and fast. Many of us should also recognise that certain Federal policies drive our Provincial government to re-evaluate its stance on many issues, including Greenbelt land use.&nbsp;&nbsp;Ontario must move forward with building mixed developments within GTA and outside. Many Ontarians also have no means of owning a home of their own, resorting to either living with their parents/relatives, or renting. Adding to the very shrinking pool of available housing (notice, not affordable, available), should be supported by the Ontarians as it opens up more housing opportunities for everybody. The province’s development policies call for dense, transit-oriented development.Firstly, we should refrain from allowing the issue of housing to be exploited to satisfy personal political vendettas. Ontario needs to open up new lands for housing development. Unless, of course, existing house owners are willing to consider the possibility of City chopping off parts of their backyards to build new homes, or GTA condo owners would like to risk undue pressures which building upwards puts on the aged infrastructure.&nbsp; The argument that the Provincial government under Ford has granted itself new powers to cut through protected areas under this new bill to save space for housing is simply not reflective of reality. The previous Provincial government, under Kathleen Wynne, also had and used the very same powers to open up Greenbelt lands to allow building of non-residential commercial properties.According to the Region of Niagara PIC Webinars Q &amp; A Session Feedback, with which we agree, the current housing affordability crisis is largely a result of years of neglecting to provide builders with serviceable lands and by restricting density in neighbourhoods with zoning that has effectively frozen the number and size of existing buildings. This tightening of the land supply prevented the supply of available housing that has created an unprecedented frenzy for home buyers seeking their dream of home ownership.The swap of Greenbelt lands due for re-zoning in one area for new designated Greenbelt lands in another is also not a new concept. The precedent has been set for lands that have been included in the Ontario Greenbelt to later be removed by the Kathleen Wynne government in 2016. These lands were originally included in the urban boundaries set by the municipalities and then subsequently removed. One of many examples was Hamilton councillors approval of a request from <a href="https://www.hamiltonnews.com/news-story/6867801-hamilton-councillors-remove-stoney-creek-lands-from-greenbelt/">Stoney Creek’s representatives to remove a portion of land at Barton Street and Fifty Road East in Winona from the Greenbelt back in September of 2016.</a>Grimsby has maintained for much of the last decade that the Greenbelt was drawn through the municipality without regard to local conditions. In particular, the town put water and sewer infrastructure in the ground years before the Greenbelt was implemented on land that now can’t be developed. In fact, some of that land, in the town’s west, was close to the planned Casablanca GO rail station the Liberals announced in 2017 — building there would both support other government plans and follow sound planning principles. Niagara Region offered to add land to the Greenbelt if some of the land near Grimsby can be freed up.The point isn’t to plead Grimsby’s case, but to say these are reasonable debates about the Greenbelt’s borders. There are still good reasons to keep an eye out, and groups such as Environmental Defence do good work as watchdogs. However, when such issues are excessively politicized, whole municipalities and communities become unattractive for development. The lack of change in the <a href="https://www.niagarathisweek.com/news-story/7085315-grimsby-mayor-says-something-stinks-with-greenbelt/">Greenbelt review</a> has become a pawn to certain political powers.The assertion that Bill 23 threatens the farmlands is not supported by any data.&nbsp;There is a concern that that if left uncontrolled, Canada’s expanding cities risk occupying too much space and many at the Toronto’s chief planner roundtable used to advocate growth boundaries, such as Ontario’s Greenbelt, to restrict urban expansion.&nbsp;According to this theory, greenbelts will help rein in runaway infrastructure costs and preserve natural heritage by forcing denser urban growth. However, according to the <a href="https://www.fraserinstitute.org/article/collateral-damage-of-ontarios-greenbelt">Fraser Institute</a> research, data suggests they inevitably do more harm than good, depriving farmers of land value, and driving up home prices.Farm owners inside Ontario’s Greenbelt are amongst its greatest collateral victims. Farmland accounts for just over two-thirds of an Ontario farm’s assets. Much of this value comes from the possibility of one day developing farmland into homes, a value that can be wiped away by urban growth boundaries. A study of the Greenbelt’s effect on farmland estimates farms nearToronto and inside the Greenbelt’s protected countryside lost an average of about 24 per cent of their property value when the law came into force. For Ontario farmers, many of whom are rapidly approaching their career’s end at an average age just under 55, this loss of land equity can make retirement even less attainable.But farmers are not the only ones hurt by the Greenbelt; it also threatens housing affordability as Toronto and GTA keeps expanding. The region is expected to accommodate an additional four million inhabitants by 2031, and land restrictions will inevitably cause rising prices as the city bumps up against its legislated boundary.As for housing affordability, there is a troublesome trend where lower tier municipalities are spending an increasing and unreasonable number of tax payer dollars for legal fees and various studies to fight housing growth at LPAT. Builders in turn are forced to spend an ever-growing number of dollars in legal fees to push growth. The combination of higher property taxes and per unit cost to actually build homes results in a housing affordability crisis that will only be exacerbated. It is for this reason a clear mandate to permit growth to meet population forecasts for affordable housing must be enacted.The lands defined in the Ontario Greenbelt has resulted in builders moving into agricultural sensitive areas that are not as close to infrastructure like transportation corridors and serviceable lands with water and sewer availability. This results in an increase of costs to provide this groundwork which are passed on the home buyers.&nbsp;Builders are forced to implement high-cost infrastructure with restriction to density which again increases the per unit cost of the building.So, is More Homes Built Faster Act perfect? No, and Ford’s Government has been diligently considering the feedback and consulting various experts and representatives of municipalities affected by the Bill 23. We see that recently Ontario Government has ruled on amending the Bill and the discussions are still ongoing.&nbsp;Opening up new land for development in Ontario is inevitable. The positive side is lots of&nbsp; people will get jobs and more of new housing will be developed. Ontario Government is acting as adults, taking responsible steps to ensure the housing growth while taking the brunt of the pushback.As Frasier Institute “The collateral damage of Ontario’s greenbelt” states, “fortunately for those in the property market, the Greenbelt has left a few pockets of land open for Toronto’s metro area to grow into, and we have yet to see a definitive impact on the housing supply.”Having seen the Greenbelt land slated for re-zoning around Hamilton, it is perfect for a new housing development.

Is Bill 23 Actually Great for Ontario? The More Homes Built Faster Act Just Might be the Reasonable Approach which Deserves Public Support.

The More Homes Built Faster Act is the reasonable approach which deserves public support. The positive side is more new housing development and new jobs.

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