Endorse EOWC 7-in-7 Regional Housing Plan

Councillor Votes

Full Resolution Text

a) That Council approve the recommendation outlined in Report CLSCLK23-021, dated October 2, 2023, of the City Clerk as follows:| That the presentation from the Eastern Ontario Warden’s Caucus, be received for information. b) WHEREAS during the October 13, 2022 EOWC meeting, the Caucus passed the below motion to endorse the ‘7 in 7’ Regional Housing Plan vision statement; and “That the City of Peterborough endorses the proposed vision statement as follows on the regional housing project proposal; and The EOWC will commit to increase our share of rental supply by 7,000 units across eastern Ontario within seven years, and work in partnership with the federal and provincial governments, local municipalities, private sector, and non- profit sector. This will include a regional model that accounts for cost savings, local flexibility and sustainability. This goal will be accomplished through joint procurement and design, incentivization, municipal coordination, land use planning, long-term operational models, and leveraging partnerships. An innovative approach to funding, land use planning, engineering, inspection, and servicing will be required. WHEREAS there are approximately 12,000 to 14,000 community rental housing units needed to address the municipal wait lists across the eastern Ontario region; WHEREAS the EOWC region’s average wait time for community housing is almost 5 years across all unit types, and as high as 10 years for some units; WHEREAS the EOWC is ready to take a regional leadership role with a bold plan to reduce the wait list and build the supply of community rental housing by developing the ‘7 in 7’ Regional Housing Plan; WHEREAS the ‘7 in 7’ plan will deliver 7,000 new affordable community rental units over 7 years, in addition to incentivizing an additional 21,000 attainable market rate units from the private and non-profit sectors for a total of total 28,000 housing units; WHEREAS the Province of Ontario has the goal of building 1.5 million homes across the province by 2031. WHEREAS collaboration, commitment and contribution between the Federal Government of Canada, the Province of Ontario, Indigenous governments, and private and non-profit sectors are key to tackle regional housing projects; THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Council of the City of Peterborough is committed to fulfilling the goals of the EOWC ‘7 in 7’ Regional Housing Plan; THAT Council urges all orders of government, private, and non-profit partners to fill the housing gap by collaborating, innovating and investing in filling the rural housing gap; and THAT this resolution be forwarded to Right Honourable Prime Minister of Canada; the Honourable Premier of Ontario; The Honourable Provincial Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing; The Honourable Provincial Associate Minister of Housing; The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), The Association of Municipalities Ontario (AMO), The Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA); and The Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus (EOWC).