City of Guelph looking for ways to get more housing built faster

Ontario Construction News staff writer

City of Guelph staff updated efforts to increase housing supply at a recent housing workshop with council. Staff also identified funding gaps and opportunities and explained Guelph’s current capacity for housing.

“We appreciated Mayor Guthrie’s call for a special council meeting because it gave us an opportunity to really get into the details of what we’re doing to get shovels in the ground,” says chief administrative officer Scott Stewart. “We’re here, we’re putting in the work, we’re spending thousands of hours and millions of dollars to make it happen, but we can’t do it alone.

“This is not just the city’s problem. This is a collective problem, and we need other levels of government, community partners, and developers to help us solve it.”

Guelph’s current capacity for housing includes land already zoned for residential use that can accommodate nearly 6,000 units for which the city has not received site plan applications, or development requirements have not been met by the developer, and, in some cases, more than 30 years have passed waiting for approved units to be built.

To reach the mandated target of 18,000 units by 2031, the city needs developers to build about 1,974 units every year. This number is about 400 units more than the highest number of permits the city issued in the last 20 years.

Highlights from staff’s presentation:

• $5.5 million is provided every year in development fee reductions to contribute to new housing supply, primarily related to creating accessory dwelling units. With provincial changes, it is estimated this could grow to more than $23 million a year to encourage developers to build rental and affordable housing units.
• $17 million in annual base funding for Guelph’s share of the provincially legislated social housing services delivered by the county as the city’s designated service manager
• $500,000 in annual base funding for the city’s affordable housing incentive program; augmented with other one-time contributions, resulting in over $3.1 million provided toward three supportive housing projects in Guelph in 2021 and 2022
• $495,000 in annual base funding to run the Wyndham House Youth Shelter along with providing the property rent-free
• $710,000 of annual funding for other related services like Welcoming Streets and the extension of daytime shelter hours at the Royal City Mission
• contribution of the Delhi Street property for new transitional housing in Guelph—an equivalent value of $1.4 million
• $862,000 in funding and financing of up to $6.2 million for an additional 29 beds at the Elliott Community.

The city invests to build infrastructure that supports growth including $150 million on 28 growth-related water, sewer, and road construction projects currently underway or completed in the last five years, more than $4 million in planning for service delivery to support mandated growth and about $3 billion for planned work based on Council-approved master plans.

“Too many people, organizations and yes, all of Council, need to know exactly what’s happening with housing in our community. That’s why this workshop was important, it allowed staff to state clearly what work they’ve done to date in trying to create the right conditions and opportunities to get more housing approved as quickly as possible,” Mayor Cam Guthrie said following the workshop, “I was also excited to hear Council’s ideas for innovative housing solutions to explore in Guelph. I want to make sure we’ve exhausted all options within municipal control to help people find the housing they need, whether they live here now, or may choose Guelph as their home in the future.”

Council is also considering:

• draft policies that enable more housing such as a potential parking and stormwater cash-in-lieu policy
• link infrastructure investment to housing supply outcomes and prioritize capital investment where the greatest housing supply can be achieved in the short-term
• increase affordable housing by building and operating affordable housing
• review City-owned property to see what might be sold to accommodate more housing

In August, staff will present report that summarizes the workshop, including the suggestions and ideas put forth for consideration.

Also, at a special Council meeting on Sept. 12, Council will receive a report on the work done studying the gaps and opportunities within our community connected to issues of homelessness, mental health, and substance use. In addition, the county will present its housing and homelessness plan, prior to approval on the project framework for the Housing Affordability Strategy update, and then in October, staff will present a report to Council with recommendations for future action.

In January 2024, staff will provide the next update on the housing continuum.