BARRIE, ONT. -- Plans for a new $79 million development in Orillia have been approved by County Council to move ahead.

The 'County Orillia Campus' will be a hub with affordable housing, community services, and county support services.

"We know there is need for greater access to affordable housing and social and community services in Orillia and the surrounding area, with our waitlist for housing having reached well over two years," County of Simcoe Warden George Cornell said of the project.

The campus would include about 130 affordable mixed units for seniors, families and individuals.

The site will also accommodate commercial businesses, including the VON Adult Day Program, Ontario Works, Simcoe Muskoka Family Connexions, EarlyON Child and Family Centre, and a licensed child care centre.

The development would be built at the former Orillia District Collegiate Vocational Institute, which was purchased by the County in 2018.

The County hopes to have shovels in the ground in late spring or early summer of 2021.