Affordable housing waiting lists soar as Premier Wynne fails to honour her pledge to support inclusionary zoning: NDP

Today in the legislature, NDP GTA critic Cheri DiNovo demanded the government act to address growing affordable housing waiting lists by finally honouring its pledge to allow municipalities to pass inclusionary zoning by-laws in Ontario. 

“In 2009 and 2010, the government, including the current Premier, voted to support the first two of my five bills to allow municipalities to pass inclusionary zoning by-laws,” said DiNovo, MPP for Parkdale-High Park. “And yet when the government released its Long-Term Affordable Housing Strategy in late 2010, inclusionary zoning was nowhere to be found.”

Last year, the government supported a bill by Liberal MPP Peter Milczyn, which would allow for inclusionary zoning, yet when the government tabled Bill 73 to amend the Planning Act, again, inclusionary zoning was nowhere to be found.

The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing responded that the Liberal government was “looking at it very seriously.”

While the government takes six years to ponder its support for the zoning by-law, the Chief City Planner of Toronto says Toronto would have an extra 12,000 affordable housing units today if the city had been allowed to pass an inclusionary zoning bylaw five years ago. 

“The wait-list for affordable housing is now at a record high, with over 168,000 Ontario households waiting an average of almost four years,” said DiNovo. “After six years, why hasn’t the Premier followed through on her government’s repeated pledges to support inclusionary zoning?”