Richard Lyall
RESCON President
Many were happy to see 2025 in the rear-view mirror. But this year could be worse if remaining barriers to new housing are not decisively addressed.
Housing targets are not being met. In fact, they’re heading in the wrong direction. Hence, it is no surprise that RESCON’s municipal housing report card was rated #2 in the list of Top 10 2025 CBC stories.
The report card and other research done by RESCON on housing and infrastructure-related issues reflected the hard work by volunteers and staff to rectify what became a dysfunctional market.
To be fair, all three levels of government have taken steps to fix specific problems, but the main overarching challenges remain to varying degrees across the country. The hardest hit regions are the greater Toronto and Vancouver areas.
There have been other noteworthy developments. CMHC released a damning report on development charges. A separate Missing Middle Initiative report card on the provinces gave Ontario a disappointing rating – at a time when families and talent have started leaving. There are reasons for all this, but few understand the totality.
In broad strokes the following must happen in 2026:
- New housing can no longer be taxed like alcohol and tobacco. The only other jurisdiction that came close to us was Vancouver – not exactly a good example to follow. In February, reforms to sales taxes for first-time buyers should be quickly approved unamended by the Senate. Other adjustments will be required for move-up buyers and empty nesters. Excessive housing taxation is killing supply and government revenues, as is now being revealed with the market correction.
- Runaway development changes must be reduced to a level reflecting their original intent. New home buyers and renters today, unlike the prior generation, should not be forced to pay for growth that benefits entire communities. It’s just wrong.
- The approvals process must be subject to province-wide performance standards and digitized on a common open-source platform as has happened in more advanced jurisdictions. Industry must lead the way in PropTech, as governments, with a few exceptions, have not demonstrated the experience or aptitude to manage change at the scale and pace required. The data derived from digitization is vitally important to tracking needs and strategy. At this point, it is woefully lacking, as demonstrated by reports by the Missing Middle Initiative and others.
- Vital government efforts with respect to social housing and homelessness need to be better co-ordinated. In Ontario, construction and housing could be aligned under a new super Ministry of Growth Management. Given the importance of new housing and infrastructure to our future, we should do as other more advanced jurisdictions have done; get organized with targets on time and on budget.
- Offsite construction and the new Build Canada Homes initiative, while important relative to government’s role and the time and investment needed, will not solve the problem. The industry is responsible for more than 90 per cent of supply. If the market is dysfunctional – fix that and reduce misleading rhetoric.
2026 is the year these changes must be made or the economy and employment will suffer further.
We need to attract investment in both new ventures and housing. We must compete with the U.S.
If we do not act decisively, we will lose critical development teams and crews and witness our relative prosperity stumble further.
On a positive note, Feb. 17 marks the official beginning of the Year of the Horse in Chinese astrology, which symbolizes success and good fortune. The horse embodies enthusiasm, speed, a fiery spirit, and is known for achieving success swiftly, akin to a victorious horse arriving at the battlefield.
Make no mistake, we are in a desperate battle for housing against the forces of systemic inertia and echo chamber rhetoric. Those horses will be arriving just at the right time.
