Ontario housing bill would bring in ‘use it or lose it’ rules to spur construction

The Ontario government has unveiled a new housing bill that would eliminate requirements for parking spaces in developments near major public-transit stations and bring in promised “use-it-or-lose-it” rules meant to get developers sitting on approvals to start construction.

It would also backtrack on a policy introduced just two years ago that was meant to slow large increases to the fees municipalities charge developers for infrastructure – charges the development industry and the government had said were adding hundreds of thousands of dollars to the cost of housing units.

Scrapping parking-spot requirements near transit stations – a move already implemented in Toronto – would allow developers and market demand to determine how much parking is needed, instead of minimums set by city planners. The government says the move could lower construction costs for condominiums or apartments by $2,000 to $100,000 each.