‘We can’t just fiddle on the margins’: Ont. mayors call for action to tackle housing affordability crisis

The provincial government is pledging more than $45 million to help major Ontario municipalities accelerate approval for housing developments to boost supply.

But following a virtual summit on the housing crisis, the leaders of those cities say more needs to be done to address low inventory and high prices for renters and buyers.

"We can't just fiddle on the margins," Barrie mayor and Ontario Big City Mayors (OBCM) Chair Jeff Lehman tells CTV News.

"We have to focus on the major issues, which is the cost drivers that are pushing rent up so much."

Several groups representing Ontario municipalities and regional governments joined Premier Doug Ford and Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for an online discussion Wednesday morning.

Lehman says while municipalities have a role to play in making the approval process for housing a smooth one, other levels of government can have a greater impact.

"If the province and the federal government would change some of their tax policies to encourage companies to build more rental apartments, that will help more people in our city be able to afford rent because there will be more supply of what's needed," Lehman says.

Sam Hopper and his partner are in a rush to upgrade the Barrie bachelor apartment they share.

"It's quite cramped," Hopper says. "Especially with two dogs, two cats and a baby on the way."

With the due date in early March, the couple hasn't been able to find a home they can afford to rent or buy to accommodate their growing family.

"I've just found my full-time work. My girlfriend has only just become a nurse towards the end of last year. So when it comes to savings and stuff like that, we're just starting, you know. And it's quite difficult."

Garret Seis has crammed most of his worldly possessions into his childhood bedroom at his parents' home in Stroud.

The 24-year-old settled in and launched a landscaping business last year to save as much money as possible to eventually buy a fixer-upper nearby.

Seis is anxious to have a space to call his own that he doesn't have to share with roommates.

"Not to mention getting older and dating and all that kind of stuff. You don't want to be 30 living in your parents' house anymore," Seis says.

He figures he can scrape together enough money to leave in about three years, but that's only if everything goes right.

"If it gets any worse, there's just absolutely no way it's going to be possible."