City of Barrie seeks public feedback on issue of affordable housing

The City of Barrie is seeking input on the importance of affordable housing and residents' experiences finding affordable housing as part of its update to the Affordable Housing Strategy.

A public consultation process aims to gather feedback from residents, businesses, potential homeowners, and developers to support the City's goal to make Barrie an affordable place to live.

"Having grown up in social housing in Barrie, I can appreciate the impact that having access to stable housing can provide to families and individuals," said Mayor Alex Nuttall.

"Your feedback will allow us to focus on Barrie's immediate housing needs and ensure that families and individuals, regardless of their income, have adequate housing options that they can afford," the mayor added.

To update the strategy, the City will conduct a Housing Needs Assessment to determine existing housing stock and identify gaps in housing types.

Policy options will also be recommended to create new affordable housing units, which will be presented to the council in early 2024.

Barrie's first 10-year Affordable Housing Strategy was released in 2015, with the goal of constructing 840 affordable housing units by 2025.

This target was aligned with the County of Simcoe's 10-Year Affordable Housing Plan, which allocated the need of 840 units with 252 geared to subsidy housing provided by the County.

The goal of 840 new units was achieved in 2020.

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The first step required to update the strategy is to find out about Barrie's housing market and housing needs of residents seeking housing.

Throughout the project, the community will have opportunities to provide feedback, including a public survey, which will be available in late April.

The City will host public sessions, stakeholder meetings, and an Affordable Housing Symposium event planned for May 4.