The province passed the Promoting Affordable Housing Act, 2016 (Bill 7) on December 6th, that will allow municipalities to require the inclusion of affordable housing units in new residential projects. A regulation under the Planning Act will set the framework for Inclusionary Zoning. In advance of the legislation being introduced, OHBA and BILD created a Statement of Intent on Affordable Housing & Inclusionary Zoning that outlines our principles for Inclusionary Zoning. OHBA, BILD and the Niagara Home Builders' Association all made deputations to the Standing Committee on Social Policy regarding inclusionary zoning and industry support for a partnership model to ensure a sharing of costs and ultimately an approach to ensure the successful delivery of affordable housing units. Key amendments made to the legislation prior to Royal Assent include allowing Section 37 to be used subject to the provisions in the regulation and adopting an OHBA recommendation to allow "off-site" affordable units.
OHBA also submitted recommendations to the Ministry of Housing in August regarding the regulatory consultation and both OHBA and BILD met directly with the Minister of Housing, Hon. Chris Ballard on December 12th to discuss the regulation that will be further consulted on in 2017.