Stiles brings Ontario NDP affordable housing plan to St. Catharines

ST. CATHARINES – Marit Stiles, Leader of the Official Opposition NDP, joined MPP Jennie Stevens in St. Catharines today to convene a round table with local experts and leaders to discuss housing affordability challenges and solutions in St. Catharines.

“What I’ve heard this morning is that St. Catharines is in the midst of a housing crisis, just like so many other cities I’ve visited across Ontario,” said Stiles. “It’s getting harder than ever to find affordable housing, and cities like St. Catharines are starting to face rents so high they could have Toronto price tags. We need big solutions to tackle this challenge.”

The first component of the NDP plan to solving the housing crisis is Homes Ontario, which would fund and build at least 250,000 new affordable and non-market homes on public land across the province over the next ten years. They would be operated and/or constructed by public, non-profit or co-op housing providers.

“I’m proud to have Marit Stiles join our community today as we work together on solutions to address the housing affordability crisis in St. Catharines,” said MPP Jennie Stevens (St. Catharines). “There are so many organizations here doing incredible work – and we’re here to listen and learn from their experiences facing these challenges head on. Together, we can do big things.”

“In the Official Opposition, we think it’s time for a different, bold shift in approach to solve the housing crisis,” said Stiles. “Last month we launched our proposal to get the government back in the business of building housing – and we’re just getting started.”

The Ontario NDP has also been calling for real rent control, an end to exclusionary zoning, clamping down on real estate speculation and more.