ACORN Response to Ontario Throne Speech

Tariff Plan Reduces Costs for Developers but What About Renters?

Tuesday’s Throne Speech laid out the Ford government’s priorities for the new parliamentary session. And while there was a lot of talk about the threat of US tariffs, Trump’s impact on the Ontario economy and reducing costs for businesses, support for renters and investments in social housing were notably missing.

What did the Throne Speech say about housing?

• The government will continue to make investments to “build the local infrastructure needed to unlock new homes.”

• Work with cities to “lower their costly local development fees.”

• “Standardize and bring more transparency to the cost and timelines of building homes, including for local development charges, study requirements and Building Code permit approvals.”

• In its section about crime and safety, the government committed to “provide municipalities the enhanced tools they need to end encampments and clean up our parks and public spaces.”

That’s it…

Much of the government’s focus is about lowering fees and providing incentives for developers. But this is not new – it’s the same approach to housing the PC government has taken since 2018 and it has not worked. Instead, housing starts in Ontario are at historic lows.

Meanwhile, Statistics Canada finds that roughly 60% of renters are struggling to afford rent – and that was before the effect of US tariffs on the cost of living. Yes, tariffs will drive up construction costs and may discourage private sector investment in housing. However, we cannot rely on the private-sector to create the affordable housing this province desperately needs.

ACORN members across the country are calling on the federal government to take decisive action to protect renters during such economic uncertainty. Many of these measures though could also be implemented by the Province if there was the political will to do so.

ACORN is demanding:

1. A Rent Freeze

2. Full rent control on all buildings, including vacancy control and a ban on Above-Guideline-Increases (AGIs)

3. As part of the needed stimulus package to offset impacts of tariffs, the government itself should build new rent-geared-to-income social housing.

   • These units should target people experiencing core housing needs and homelessness, with rents permanently set at no more than 30% of household income or social assistance housing allowances. 

   • For reference, Ontario’s Throne Speech committed to invest $200 billion in building new highways and roads but no similar commitments have been made for housing.

4. Invest in non-market housing acquisitions 

5. Eviction Moratorium for the first 12 months

6. Rent Bank to help offset any potential wave of evictions from economic instability

These are similar to measures historically implemented during times of economic hardship or war, and more recently, in Ontario’s response to the pandemic.

Without these supports and investments in non-market housing, even more renters who are already struggling to get by will be pushed into the very encampments Ford is trying to “clean up.” But simply making homelessness less visible to the public won’t solve the problem. Ontario ACORN is urging the Province to take immediate action to prevent further homelessness and to commit to long-term solutions that address the root of the housing crisis.