Premier Doug Ford's government is postponing the summit it planned to hold on Thursday on the housing affordability crisis as Ontario reckons with its latest surge of COVID infections.

“To allow leaders of all levels to support their communities as we work together to respond to the evolving public health situation, our government is postponing the Ontario Housing Affordability Summit until January 19, 2022," Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark said in a statement on Wednesday.

Ford and Clark's summit is meant to be with the mayors of Ontario's biggest cities. It was announced on Nov. 25.

Ford also later asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to attend.

The intention of the get-together is to "aim to identify further opportunities for collaboration as the province and municipalities continue to address the housing affordability crisis," according to a press release.

Home prices in Canada are 25 per cent more expensive than they were last year, the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) said in a report it released on Wednesday. That cost increase is a record, CREA said.

The summit's new date aligns it more closely with next month's Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) Conference, which is being held Jan. 23 to 25. The government also originally planned a "special session" with ROMA members in January to discuss housing affordability.

"Our government’s ongoing collaboration with municipalities complements our other efforts as we continue to address the housing crisis," said Clark in the press release sent out on Thursday, which pointed to the government's online consultations and its newly struck Housing Affordability Task Force as its other actions.

Before it was postponed on Wednesday, Ontario NDP MPP and housing critic Jessica Bell held a press conference outlining the actions the NDP believes the premier should take to improve housing affordability.

The NDP's suggestions are: to make it illegal for landlords to raise rents between tenants beyond provincial increase limits; create a speculation and vacancy tax for people who own houses in Ontario but don't pay taxes in the province, as well as increase the Non-Resident Speculation Tax by five per cent to 20 per cent; change zoning rules so Toronto developers must build affordable housing in every major development; allow municipalities to shift property taxes to properties worth more than $2 million; and immediately fund the construction of at least 99,000 affordable and supportive housing units.

Also ahead of the summit's cancellation, Barrie's mayor Jeff Lehman, the chair of Ontario’s Big City Mayors (OBCM), spoke to iPolitics about the group's proposals to improve housing affordability. While there's a complexity of issues contributing to the overall problem, Lehman said OBCM believes its necessary that there's trilateral cooperation between municipalities, provinces and the federal government, and that proposed solutions be data driven.

Ford government postpones housing affordability summit

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