Statement from Mayor David West

I welcome yesterday’s announcement from the Federal and Provincial governments that would cut HST for new home buyers and help cities like ours reduce Development Charges on new home construction thus reducing cost and converting some of the many housing approvals that we have approved into actual houses.

We are in an ever-deepening housing and housing affordability crisis in Canada and here in Richmond Hill. The ability for many segments of our population to enter the housing market is being directly impacted, including but not just limited to our younger and older populations. It also affects us all because not being able to accommodate a wide and economically diverse population impacts the local economy and our competitiveness as a city.

I have said before I support any and all efforts to increase housing and housing affordability for Richmond Hill and we have been working hard over the past 4 years to accomplish more in that area. In Richmond Hill we have approved 11,000 units, streamlined our processes, dropped our DCs due to Provincial legislation, reduced red tape, and incentivized the building of 209 sustainably designed affordable rental housing units to date. We have made progress despite significant market headwinds and what I see as a lack of tangible and adequate support from upper levels of government.

Development charges (DCs) have long been seen as a cost barrier to builders and in this difficult housing market I understand that concern. On the other side of that coin, DCs are one of the only ways cities like Richmond Hill can fund essential infrastructure needed for new neighbourhoods such as new or expanded libraries, park and recreation facilities, roads and public transit to name a few.

The bottom line is simple. Growth needs to pay for growth – if cities do not obtain adequate funds to pay for growth related infrastructure, the cost will be passed on to the property taxpayer or we will do without the services that allow cities to be great places to live. It is unacceptable to me that Richmond Hill taxpayers carry this additional burden when so many are facing general affordability challenges in their lives.

I welcome the recent announcement but am eager to hear the details of how this positively impacts cities like Richmond Hill. We need to incentivize housing and especially housing that is affordable to more people and I am optimistic that this announcement will represent full funding from the province and federal government to make cities whole not an additional financial burden on Richmond Hill property taxpayers.