Ontario Construction News staff writer
Kitchener council has approved a housing pledge with strategies focused on building 35,000 additional homes in the city by 2031.
“Tackling the housing crisis locally means everyone needs to work together – building on our proven barn-raising approach that includes all orders of government, the private sector, not-for-profit, educational institutions, and most importantly, all Kitchener residents,” said Mayor Berry Vrbanovic. “Although the province’s housing forecasts for municipalities are ambitious, Kitchener is well-positioned to meet these targets.”
A recent Environics survey and community feedback identified housing is a top priority for Kitchener residents.
The housing pledge includes:
- advancing work to update land use and zoning within Major Transit Station Areas
- continuing to implement Kitchener’s Housing for All strategy, including actions that enable an increased housing supply and streamlining development approvals
- collaborating with the Waterloo Region Home Builders Association, Kitchener Development Liaison Committee and others to identify labour shortages and costs, material costs, infrastructure timing, economic market conditions, and land supply and housing capacity
- working with post-secondary institutions to respond to evolving workforce needs including building a necessary talent pool
- collaborating with other levels of government to develop strategies to increase housing supply capacity including the identification of funding required for infrastructure
The province has required municipalities to submit housing pledges that will be used to monitor and track progress on expanding housing supply.
Read Kitchener’s housing pledge.