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But his fall economic statement delivered Wednesday predicts the pace of home building in Ontario — needed to ease an affordability crisis that has sent prices skyrocketing out of reach for many — will remain below target until at least 2027.

This year alone, the target is 125,000 new homes, but the forecast in his fiscal statement is for just 81,300. That is expected to rise to 86,500 next year, 93,200 in 2026 and 95,300 in 2027 — all well below the pace needed. 

“It reads like they’ve given up,” added Stiles, who has proposed a new government agency called Homes Ontario to build “truly affordable” homes she says the market is not supplying in adequate numbers. 

“The market alone is never going to build the housing that Ontario needs.”

Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Paul Calandra said the government is setting the groundwork for improvement with a $3-billion municipal infrastructure fund for projects like new sewer and water lines needed to support home building.

“We’re doubling down and getting the infrastructure on the ground so that we can continue to unleash more activity now that interest rates are going in the right direction.”

Despite the setbacks caused by high interest rates in recent years, Calandra pledged “we will not fail” to meet the 2031 goal. “I’ll remove obstacles so that I can reach that target.”

Calandra added “we have to pivot really quickly so that we can get shovels in the ground.”

High interest rates have had a double-barrelled impact by also driving up the cost of construction loans for builders.

“The cost to build has gotten to a point where the products are being priced out of the consumers’ ability to pay,” David Wilkes, president and chief executive of the Building Industry and Land Development Industry Association, told the Star.

While the government’s infrastructure investments are welcome, he added municipal fees and taxes remain a problem in many areas.

“We have a model that is broken,” Wilkes said.

Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward, chair of Ontario’s Big City Mayors group, said her city has drastically cut development charges.

“We need to have an accurate conversation about what is preventing shovels in the ground ... we all need to pull together.” 

Opposition parties at Queen’s Park said slow progress in building is making the housing affordability and shortage crisis worse in a domino effect that extends to growing homeless encampments in cities and towns across the province.

“Under Doug Ford, the path to homelessness has never been shorter or more slippery,” said Liberal MPP Adil Shamji (Don Valley East), an emergency room physician who has helped run 11 homeless shelters.

“It’s because the premier says no to legalizing fourplexes and six- to 11-storey buildings along major transit corridors ... the premier says no to building deeply affordable non-profit and co-op housing,” Green Leader Mike Schreiner told reporters.

“Until the premier actually starts saying yes to building homes people can afford in the communities they love, this crisis will not be solved.”