Bradford is preparing for its urban area to change as the town grows up.
That was the message from growth services director Jennifer Best in a report for the Feb. 4 council meeting, which shows Bradford is “well underway” to exceed the target of having 40 per cent of new homes added to the existing urban area by 2051 in order to accommodate a population of 84,370 by then.
That’s helped by developments such as Holland Haus at 123 Holland St., The Middleton retirement residence at 558 Holland St., a proposed 15-storey mixed-use building at 73 and 79 Holland St. W., a proposed 10-storey mixed-use building at 300 Barrie St., plus the continuation of subdivision growth in Bond Head.
Mayor James Leduc called the report “very good,” with a lot of “great information” on the town’s future plans, but not all councillors agreed, with several cautioning that density isn’t a silver bullet and Ward 7 Coun. Peter Dykie noted the town still needs to plan “wisely.”
To that point, Ward 5 Coun. Peter Ferragine said recent subdivision plans put too much focus on the quantity of homes at the expense of all else.
“It’s all about growing properly in the municipality,” he said. “It’s not about how many houses we can slam in here — we have to build a community as a whole.”
That’s a point Ferragine has consistently made at the council table. During this meeting he also claimed there are about 380 units the town has already approved, but developers haven’t taken out building permits yet.
He says that's because the investment isn’t present.
“We can’t just go ahead approving a ton of subdivisions, in hopes that things will get built and prices will come down, because that’s not how it works,” he said.
To address costs, Dykie suggested reviewing development charges, while the mayor noted denser units (like townhouses) can be part of the solution. He also emphasized that future development will be guided by the town’s growth management plan, which is being developed based on public feedback to address resident concerns.
“We need to look at infill projects as an opportunity for us to save farmland and live up to our obligations,” Leduc said.
In her report, Best notes the Holland Street corridor is expected to help the town exceed its intensification target, which could also be helped by the town’s proposed major transit station area surrounding the Bradford GO station, where taller, denser developments are intended to hit a target of 150 people and jobs per hectare.
Between 2019 and 2024, the town saw a roughly 37-per-cent increase in the number of jobs bringing the current total to about 15,000, and in order to prepare for 31,000 total jobs by 2051, the town will need a “sustained focus” on industrial and commercial development, Best said.
Much of that is anticipated in the Highway 400 employment lands, where many of the manufacturing jobs are expected to be located, and which currently have the greatest wages per worker of the top five employment groups in town at $66,536, according to the report.
The growth services department is working on several projects to help prepare the town to grow “significantly” over the next 30 years including: improved customer service, providing more digital services, streamlining the town’s approval process and preparing for planning and infrastructure updates.
Building permit activity
All of that comes as a separate report from Yancy Ambing, acting chief building official, shows building activity was down again in 2024, with just 418 permits issued, compared to 487 in 2023, which was also a decrease from 869 in 2022.
“We’ve had a tough time with building,” Leduc said. “Everybody knows the market is the market right now, and we look forward to a strong recovery in 2025 and 2026.”
Of the permits issued in 2024, 283 were for residential building, but only 92 were for new homes, with 191 issued for homeowner improvements.
Permits for new homes included:
- Great Gulf — 64 detached houses
- Bradford Capital — 15 townhouses
- Regal Bond — 4 detached houses
- Custom Homes — 2 detached, 2 semi-detached houses
- Bond Crest — 3 detached houses
- Fernmark — 1 detached house
- Firstview Homes — 1 detached house
There were also 59 permits issued for accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in 2024, compared to 51 in 2023.
According to the provincial government’s housing supply progress website, Bradford only saw 239 new housing starts in 2024, or about 44 per cent of its annual goal of 542. Since 2022, the province shows Bradford has seen 991 new housing starts, or about 15 per cent of its pledge to build 6,500 new homes by 2031.
Other permits also took a hit in 2024 compared to 2023:
- Industrial building decreased to nine from 32
- Business and personal service decreased to 24 from 38
- Assembly occupancy decreased to 38 from 42
It wasn’t all bad news though, and there were some areas where building permits picked up in 2024 over 2023:
- Mercantile building increased to 51 from 41
- Farm building increase to 11 from four
- Care related building stood at two, but was not reported in prior years
In total, the town saw about $85.52 million in construction activity for the year and building and inspection services generated about $987,000 in revenue. Unlike in prior years, the total department costs were not included in the report.