Bradford is expecting to be home to almost 60,000 people by 2031 and close to 90,000 by 2051.
As a result, council’s committee of the whole recommended adopting a new Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury Municipal Housing Pledge during the council meeting earlier this week.
The pledge comes in response to a request from Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Steve Clark, who sent a letter to Mayor James Leduc dated June 16, in which he reiterates the government’s goal of seeing 1.5 million homes built in Ontario by 2031, and requests the town assist by identifying a locally appropriate housing target and developing a municipal housing pledge to increase and accelerate housing supply.
Mayor James Leduc explained the intent of the pledge as simply to keep up with the province’s target.
“We’re basically going to meet our requirements and support that pledge so that we can access funding if it comes up. ... We’ve got a target here that is within our range. We can do it,” he said.
Ward 6 Coun. Nickolas Harper emphasized that the town still needs to plan carefully and make sure council takes care of its communities in a strategic way, and Deputy Mayor Raj Sandhu agreed the growth of the town must remain at the direction of council.
In response to the minister’s request, staff recommended a target for 2031 of 3,440 new residences, which requires 430 new dwelling units per year between 2024 and 2031 to accommodate a population of 58,030.
That would make the population target 15 per cent more than the town’s current Official Plan target and the housing target eight per cent more than than the production rate over recent years, according to a report from Geoff McKnight, town CAO.
“Nonetheless, given the healthy state of the town’s development pipeline, staff believe this housing target is achievable subject to the completing the following initiatives,” he said in the report.
Those initiatives include:
- the municipal comprehensive review;
- a zoning bylaw update;
- water and waste water infrastructure upgrades;
- housing incentive programs from the town; and
- streamlined town approval system
Accomplishing all of that is easier said than done, though, officials warn.
While the report notes the municipal comprehensive review and related infrastructure upgrades are the two most critical next steps for the town to meet housing goals, the town can’t even begin the review until the province approves Simcoe County Official Plan Amendment No. 7, which, among other things, sets the town’s 2051 growth targets.
On top of that, the report notes the town will need some sort of assistance from the province to offset the potential financial impacts of Bill 23, More Homes Built Faster Act, which could cause the town to miss out on $3.9 million in revenue each year due to development charge exemptions and reductions.
In his report, McKnight acknowledges that Clark has said municipalities will be “made whole” for those losses, but adds no details have been released yet.
“Clarity is required, as financial planning for capital programs has become increasingly difficult,” he said.
McKnight also notes that developers will need to be “a full partner” to accomplish the goal to build 1.5 million homes by 2031.
“Nothing within current legislation (including Bill 23), compels landowners to actually proceed with development of their land when approvals are in place,” he said.
That warning came on the same day as news that residential building permits are down in Bradford to just a third compared to the same time last year.
The report on building permit activity by William Wong, the town's chief building official, shows that between April 1 and June 30 of this year, there were only 111 permits issued for residential units, compared to 332 for the same period last year.
In keeping with that trend, the total construction value reported during the second quarter is about $52 million compared to about $87 million for the same period in 2022, and the total value from building permit fees collected was about $392,000 for the quarter, compared to about $976,000 for the same period in 2022.
As a result, construction value was down about 40 per cent and permit revenue was down about 60 per cent.
According to the report, new residential development during the quarter included:
- Cachet Harbour – 16 residential units and 16 commercial units
- Serena Homes – 14 townhouses
- Regal Crest – two houses
- Infill – four houses
Recommendations from committee of the whole are considered for approval at the next regular council meeting.
