The province is projecting just 64,800 housing starts this year, 10,000 fewer than it expected for this year in last year's budget and 30,000 fewer than the 2024 plan projected.
It is the third consecutive budget or fall economic statement in which projections have been revised downward, and Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Rob Flack has recently appeared to back away from the 1.5 million homes goal. In the spring budget, the province expected to see 71,800 homes built this year already far off the pace needed to reach 1.5 million, but now it projects an even lower 64,300.
The Ford government introduced a new housing bill on Thursday that it says would streamline approvals and let developers build homes more quickly. But buried in the legislation is a proposal for "alternative options to lease expiry rules that could allow landlords to control who occupies their units and for how long," including through adjustments to rental arrangements based on market conditions, personal needs or business strategies, according to the province's briefing slides Thursday.