Approves the final recommended 2024 Housing Affordability Strategy, included as Attachment-1 to Report 2024-517, dated December 10, 2024…

2:56:57housing affordability strategy.

2:56:59Now we're gonna have staff again kick us off

2:57:03with a presentation.

2:57:05And then there's quite a few delegations.

2:57:09And so I would really ask, especially the delegates,

2:57:14to really, really listen to our staff presentation,

2:57:19especially the reason why we are here tonight,

2:57:22so that your delegations can actually align

2:57:27with what we're talking about tonight.

2:57:29I am going to be a stickler on that as the chair.

2:57:33So please listen to what our staff

2:57:36are indicating in their presentation.

2:57:39And make sure, of course, you've read the reports, I'm sure.

2:57:42And that's the reason why we are here tonight.

2:57:45And that's where we wanna make sure

2:57:46that we maintain the conversation.

2:57:49With that, Kuschel is gonna come right back on up again.

2:57:55And Lucas as well, you're getting ready.

2:57:57So the two of you can take us through the presentation.

2:58:00Go right ahead.

2:58:02Okay, great.

2:58:03Hello again, Mayor Guthrie and members of council.

2:58:06So we are pleased again to be here this evening

2:58:09to present to you the final recommended 10 year

2:58:12housing affordability strategy,

2:58:14which has been about a year in the making,

2:58:16has been developed with significant community conversations,

2:58:20as well as with the team at the city,

2:58:22and various, and works to complement

2:58:25various other municipal plans and strategies

2:58:27to address housing supply,

2:58:29including our growth management strategy and official plan.

2:58:33This strategy is also a complimentary piece

2:58:36to the county's 10 year housing and homelessness plan.

2:58:43So let's start by creating a common understanding

2:58:46of the focus of this strategy.

2:58:50As we've talked about before,

2:58:51the term affordable housing can have multiple meanings.

2:58:56For some, it can mean housing for people on social assistance.

2:59:00For others, it can mean housing

2:59:02that is owned by the government.

2:59:05Or it can mean housing not built

2:59:07by the development industry.

2:59:10However, as we have been clear

2:59:12with from the launch of this project,

2:59:14this strategy focuses on private market

2:59:17or just below market affordable housing.

2:59:20And the reasons for this are very specific.

2:59:24First, we need to be consistent

2:59:26with the province's definition,

2:59:28which I'll go over in a minute.

2:59:30Second, the tools that we have available to us

2:59:34as a municipality.

2:59:35So things like research and policy creation,

2:59:38capacity building, advocacy,

2:59:41and some financial resources

2:59:43allow us to best contribute to bring on units

2:59:47that target this range of affordability.

2:59:51So while this is the focus of the strategy

2:59:53that private market and just below market,

2:59:57we will continue to work with and elevate

2:59:59how we collaborate with the county and partners

3:00:03to support the creation of housing units

3:00:05that may not fall within what is affordable market ownership

3:00:10or affordable market rentals.

3:00:15So turning our eyes towards Guelph's overall housing need

3:00:19from 2024 to 2051.

3:00:21And as a reminder, this was shared

3:00:24at the October 8th meeting.

3:00:26We need approximately 26,000 units

3:00:28to accommodate our projected population

3:00:31of 208,000 residents by 2051.

3:00:36These approximately 26,000 units are in addition

3:00:40to the approximately 60,000 units

3:00:43that we have in Guelph today.

3:00:46Our colleagues at Watson and Associates

3:00:47who are here with us virtually today,

3:00:49should you have any questions on the analysis,

3:00:52broke this need down even further

3:00:55using the provincial definition of affordability.

3:00:58And these numbers are what you see

3:00:59in this table on the screen.

3:01:02So zeroing in on the top row, the affordable row,

3:01:06we can see that 2,640 affordable ownership units are needed.

3:01:126,060 affordable rental units are needed

3:01:16for a total of 8,700 affordable units needed overall.

3:01:22And before we leave this slide,

3:01:23I wanted to emphasize a few things.

3:01:26First, the need that we see here is significant

3:01:30and the leading contributing factor is arguably

3:01:34a lack of significant investment

3:01:36in social and subsidized housing

3:01:38by upper levels of government since the 1990s

3:01:42when this used to be the case.

3:01:45Second, achieving these numbers is largely aspirational.

3:01:49Again, because it would mean we would need millions

3:01:52upon millions of dollars on an annual basis

3:01:55from those upper levels of government.

3:01:58Finally, achievement of these units

3:02:01is a collaborative effort with the city

3:02:04being one of the contributors,

3:02:05but not the only contributor to achieving these units.

3:02:12So because this strategy is about affordability,

3:02:16let's quickly go over what can sometimes be

3:02:18an area of confusion.

3:02:20So is there a difference between how the federal government

3:02:23and provincial governments define this term,

3:02:26more specifically from an income-based perspective?

3:02:30The short answer is no.

3:02:32In both the federal and provincial definitions,

3:02:35a unit is affordable if it costs less than 30%

3:02:39of a household's before tax income.

3:02:42The province, however, does add more specificity

3:02:46by stating that this 30% is for low

3:02:49to moderate income households.

3:02:52This means that those households that fall

3:02:54within the 30th to 60th income percentiles

3:02:59are what are considered low to moderate income households.

3:03:02So to ground this a bit more for Guelph,

3:03:05from an ownership perspective,

3:03:07those households that make between 68,000 to 125,000

3:03:14are what's considered affordable, low to moderate,

3:03:18from an ownership perspective.

3:03:20And this captures approximately 40% of Guelph's population.

3:03:24From a renter's perspective,

3:03:26this means a household income of low to moderate

3:03:30of between 46,000 to $83,000.

3:03:34Again, that is the focus of this strategy.

3:03:38As a municipality, we are required to use

3:03:40the definition of affordable provided by the province.

3:03:44And subsequently, this also means that the analysis

3:03:47that we completed to determine housing need

3:03:49to the year 2051 also uses this definition.

3:03:57The province also released a bulletin

3:03:59that summarizes both market-based

3:04:00and income-based prices for housing units.

3:04:03And you'll recall that through the provincial definition

3:04:06of affordability, we are to take whatever threshold

3:04:09is lower as that year's affordability benchmark.

3:04:14So in the case of ownership units,

3:04:16because the income-based prices are lower,

3:04:20this is what becomes what is considered

3:04:23an affordable unit price in 2024.

3:04:26In Guelph's case, an affordable unit price

3:04:29is $398,800 for ownership.

3:04:36So going back a few slides to the one

3:04:39with the overall need, the table,

3:04:41with all the numbers in it.

3:04:44So going back to that, from an ownership perspective,

3:04:47this means having actions that best facilitate 2640

3:04:51affordable ownership units by 2051.

3:04:55In terms of the 10-year lifetime of this strategy,

3:04:58that's the equivalent of facilitating about 980 units.

3:05:06So similarly, the province has determined

3:05:09what is considered affordable based on rental units.

3:05:14In this case, because the market-based threshold

3:05:16is lower than the income-based threshold,

3:05:20it is the market-based rental prices

3:05:22that prevail as shown in the blue column.

3:05:25This is what is considered

3:05:26an affordable rental price in Guelph.

3:05:29We are fully aware that both the ownership

3:05:32and rental prices as shared in the provincial bulletin

3:05:35are not what our community are actually able to afford.

3:05:40It is extremely rare that units are sold

3:05:44for below $398,800.

3:05:48And at the same time, it is also extremely rare

3:05:51to find units that are rented

3:05:53at the prices that you currently see on the screen.

3:05:56So as embedded within the actions of this strategy,

3:06:00we will continue to advocate for better alignment

3:06:03between the definitions.

3:06:05However, we are still required to use the definition

3:06:07as provided by the province.

3:06:13So in terms of looking at rent,

3:06:15we just looked at ownership needs and now rental needs.

3:06:18We broke this down even further

3:06:20for the overall 6,060 units needed.

3:06:23And this table illustrates need along a range of affordability

3:06:27based on average market rents.

3:06:30So as mentioned earlier,

3:06:32and throughout the drafting of the strategy,

3:06:35the actions will focus on facilitating the creation

3:06:38of those units in the 80% to 100% average market rents

3:06:43or just below market.

3:06:46And so what's really important to remember

3:06:49is we will continue to support the creation of units

3:06:52that are outside of this range.

3:06:55The actions in this strategy

3:06:56have been crafted to ensure that we will continue

3:06:58to be open to and potentially elevate our ability

3:07:01to work with others in partnership.

3:07:07So before we move into the actions

3:07:10and how they've been prioritized,

3:07:12we wanted to quickly touch on what the city can do

3:07:14and cannot do when it comes to housing supply.

3:07:19We can determine how land is used.

3:07:22We can and have created policies that speak

3:07:25to how many, what type,

3:07:28and where units can be built around the city.

3:07:31We can provide financial incentives

3:07:33to encourage housing development,

3:07:35recognizing that municipalities

3:07:37are under incredible financial pressures

3:07:40due to recent legislative changes

3:07:42that have limited how we can pay for growth.

3:07:46We can and have created policies

3:07:48that speak to supporting a full range of housing types.

3:07:54Where we are limited is that we cannot make someone build

3:07:58affordable housing.

3:08:00We cannot make a builder build within a certain timeframe.

3:08:04We have no control over provincial

3:08:06or federal legislation.

3:08:09As part of our engagement,

3:08:10we've heard from many people about the importance

3:08:14of affordable housing for specific demographic groups.

3:08:18For example, seniors, single parent households,

3:08:22youths, and students.

3:08:24While from a policy perspective, we cannot people zone.

3:08:29The city has supported a number

3:08:30of affordable housing projects in partnership

3:08:33with our colleagues at Wellington County

3:08:35to deliver housing to these groups.

3:08:38To provide a few examples of these partnerships,

3:08:41a dedicated seniors community at Silver Maple,

3:08:44Michael House that provides pregnancy

3:08:46and parenting support services.

3:08:48And most recently, on October 8th,

3:08:50we initiated the process

3:08:52for an affordable housing demonstration project

3:08:54on Forty-Neddenboro Road,

3:08:56where council passed a motion

3:08:58that a minimum of three units

3:08:59in this project be wheelchair accessible.

3:09:03As you'll hear from Lucas in a few minutes,

3:09:05the framework that is offered through this strategy

3:09:09continues to enable these partnerships.

3:09:13The final point that we are limited is in terms

3:09:15of we have no ability to influence the sale

3:09:18or rental prices within the private market.

3:09:25So as just mentioned, one of the areas we do have

3:09:28some influences with a policy tool.

3:09:30And that is the reason why this is a formal public meeting.

3:09:34We are proposing an official plan amendment

3:09:36to align our current official plan policy

3:09:39on affordable housing targets based

3:09:41on the updated analysis.

3:09:44We are proposing to increase the target

3:09:45for new residential development of affordable housing

3:09:48to 33% from 30% and are offering an amended breakdown

3:09:54between affordable ownership units

3:09:56and affordable rental units

3:09:58that better reflects the projected need

3:10:00for more primary rental units to 2051.

3:10:04Again, here we need to emphasize

3:10:07that these targets take into consideration

3:10:09the overall housing, affordable housing need.

3:10:13And it includes contributions that the city can make,

3:10:16but it is not isolated to only the city.

3:10:20This target always has and will continue

3:10:23to include the contributions that the county makes

3:10:26as our consolidated municipal service manager

3:10:29to the administration and delivery

3:10:31of deeply affordable housing and affordable housing

3:10:33like supportive housing, social or rent gear

3:10:36to income housing.

3:10:42So moving into the strategy and the vision,

3:10:45this vision was written from the perspective

3:10:47of where we would like to be in 10 years

3:10:50once we have implemented the actions from this strategy.

3:10:54It speaks to being a welcoming community

3:10:56that leans in on Guelph's commitment

3:10:59to the availability of diverse housing options

3:11:01as a human right.

3:11:03Options that are affordable, accessible and suitable

3:11:06regardless of one situation in life.

3:11:09It speaks to partnerships

3:11:11and it also speaks to emerging as leaders.

3:11:18This strategy is also organized

3:11:20around three high level goals

3:11:22that speak to access to housing that again,

3:11:24it's affordable across the city

3:11:27that contributes to diverse and inclusive housing options

3:11:31and that everyone's aware and shares the importance

3:11:33of long-term housing options.

3:11:36And with that, I'd like to invite Lucas up

3:11:38to go over the actions and how they've been prioritized.

3:11:45Thank you, Kishle.

3:11:46So as a reminder, the actions

3:11:48in our housing affordability strategy

3:11:51were crafted with significant public engagement

3:11:54over the past few months.

3:11:56As part of this engagement,

3:11:57we did hear from a number of folks

3:11:59who do not typically intend city engagement events

3:12:02including folks with lived experience.

3:12:04This includes individuals who are a part

3:12:06of our housing affordability strategy focus group.

3:12:09And I wanted to take some time tonight

3:12:11to thank them publicly for their vigorous

3:12:13and spirited engagement in the process.

3:12:16Throughout all of the engagement events we did hold,

3:12:19we consistently heard the same message, be bold.

3:12:23For us, boldness means considering

3:12:25and implementing actions that push beyond

3:12:28what the city has done in the past

3:12:31to consider and determine how we can be a change maker

3:12:34for affordable housing policy and development.

3:12:37We also have more actions in this strategy than ever before.

3:12:42As this is a 10 year strategy,

3:12:44we need to prioritize the actions

3:12:46so we have clarity on what work will happen

3:12:48and when that work will happen.

3:12:51Since we prepared the draft housing affordability strategy

3:12:55on October 8th, we've been preparing

3:12:59that prioritization of the actions

3:13:00through an implementation and monitoring plan.

3:13:03You can find that as appendix one

3:13:05of the housing affordability strategy.

3:13:07We've also isolated that plan as attachment three

3:13:10just for ease of reference.

3:13:12As I mentioned on the previous slide,

3:13:14prioritization will set up the work plan

3:13:16over the next 10 years.

3:13:18So as we have conversations tonight

3:13:20about how the actions have been prioritized,

3:13:22it is critical to remember that staff applied

3:13:25specific criteria to determine that prioritization

3:13:29and that all actions in the housing affordability strategy

3:13:32are important.

3:13:34That's why they've made it into the final version

3:13:35that staff are recommending.

3:13:41So the prioritization assessment criteria staff applied

3:13:44are shown on this slide.

3:13:45We're gonna focus in on the first three

3:13:47as budget came in at the end

3:13:49and we didn't want it to color the primary assessment

3:13:51of the actions.

3:13:53So these criteria are impact

3:13:56or what actions have the greatest potential

3:13:58to create more units, including affordable units

3:14:00that meet the definition that Kusla just went over.

3:14:04Timeline, how long will it take

3:14:06for staff to complete the action?

3:14:08Is it a quick win or is it something

3:14:10that needs careful planning and analysis

3:14:12before implementation?

3:14:15Alignment, has council provided direction on this already?

3:14:18Do we have any short-term contractual commitments

3:14:21to implement certain actions?

3:14:23Does the action align with our strategic plan

3:14:26or have we made any commitments

3:14:27to various agencies in our community?

3:14:30So I mentioned that budget came in at the end.

3:14:33For most of the actions in our housing affordability strategy,

3:14:36we do have existing financial resources to do this work,

3:14:39but some of the actions will require more analysis

3:14:43and evaluation to be completed first

3:14:46and then we would be coming back to council

3:14:48with subsequent reports

3:14:50that would have more specific budget asks.

3:14:55So our first priority or bucket of actions

3:14:58are our housing accelerator fund or half related actions.

3:15:02The reasons for this is that we have a short-term

3:15:05contractual obligation

3:15:06under our housing accelerator fund action plan.

3:15:09As council is aware, many of these actions

3:15:12have been in front of council in some form,

3:15:14are undergoing public engagement

3:15:16or have sought a decision tonight.

3:15:19Two of the actions in particular,

3:15:21I wanna highlight our action 1.1.3 and 1.2.1.

3:15:27As part of our engagement process,

3:15:29we've heard from many individuals that it is time

3:15:31for the city to start building affordable housing ourselves,

3:15:34potentially on city-owned land.

3:15:37We wanna seriously evaluate that option early

3:15:39in our implementation of the strategy,

3:15:41as there are many actions that depend on the outcome

3:15:44of that particular action.

3:15:46Also, for the benefit of council,

3:15:48we do expect that this evaluation would come back

3:15:50through subsequent staff report

3:15:52and it would consider potential options

3:15:54as well as the financial implications for those options.

3:16:01So the next two slides cover timelines

3:16:03for housing accelerator fund related actions.

3:16:06It's very fair to say that a lot of housing work

3:16:08is going on at the city right now,

3:16:09which will have long-term benefits for getting more housing,

3:16:12including affordable housing built faster.

3:16:17Many of the actions on this slide

3:16:18include infrastructure-related work

3:16:20that will enable development growth

3:16:22in key strategic areas of the city,

3:16:24including our downtown, the Guelph Innovation District,

3:16:27and the Claremulti Secondary Plan area.

3:16:30This work will take more time to implement,

3:16:32but we'll set up these areas for growth for the long-term.

3:16:40Our next bucket of actions is our high priority actions.

3:16:43Also wanted to clarify that we use the term bucket

3:16:46as the listing of the actions in this table

3:16:48and in the tables to come are not in any particular order

3:16:51in terms of how or when they're implemented,

3:16:53they're grouped together.

3:16:55As Kuchla mentioned,

3:16:56our affordable housing targets are aspirational,

3:16:59but that doesn't mean that all of us won't be doing our best

3:17:01with the tools that we have to support all kinds

3:17:04of affordable housing in the city.

3:17:06We also know that sometimes tools may rest

3:17:10in other levels of government,

3:17:11and that's why continued and ongoing advocacy

3:17:14is so important,

3:17:15so we have the resources available to achieve those targets.

3:17:20As we move to the medium priority actions,

3:17:23I just want to remind Council again

3:17:25of the prioritization criteria we used,

3:17:27impact, timeline, alignment, and budget.

3:17:32As I mentioned earlier tonight,

3:17:33we are open to having conversations on the prioritization

3:17:36and we'll ultimately seek Council direction

3:17:38on where actions end up.

3:17:41Some of the actions here have already been done before,

3:17:44such as issuing a call for land.

3:17:46However, we know considerations and decisions

3:17:48on property can change,

3:17:50so the city wants to be at the top of the list

3:17:52for when a property owner is considering

3:17:54dispossessing their land.

3:17:55As well, other actions here require more information or data

3:17:59before we can have a clear indication on potential impact.

3:18:03Again, staff are understanding

3:18:05that the prioritization criteria or other considerations

3:18:09may not align with what others think

3:18:11of what actions we should be taking and when,

3:18:14but this is what staff is presenting to Council

3:18:16using the criteria I mentioned,

3:18:18and we look forward to hearing

3:18:19about those other considerations tonight.

3:18:24Finally, as we get to our last bucket of actions,

3:18:27I also want to reiterate again

3:18:28that all actions in the strategy are important to us.

3:18:31However, some of the actions in our low priority bucket

3:18:35may depend on outcomes of high priority actions,

3:18:37or they may not have the most significant impact

3:18:40in delivering affordable housing.

3:18:41They may require more data to achieve,

3:18:44or their ongoing work.

3:18:46So for example, action 1.2.2 regarding equity deserving

3:18:50housing is dependent on the outcome of us evaluating our role

3:18:55in the city's land strategy.

3:18:56So that work needs to come first

3:18:58so we can make informed decisions

3:19:00on where this equity deserving housing may go

3:19:03and how involved the city may be in the development.

3:19:08So that is the prioritization of the summarized actions.

3:19:11If you read through Appendix 1

3:19:12or Attachment 3 of the staff report,

3:19:14there's a lot more information there,

3:19:16including full action titles,

3:19:18the scope of work involved,

3:19:19whether the action is resourced,

3:19:21links to our State of Housing report,

3:19:23which was the catalyst for this strategy,

3:19:26and what municipal tools we are using

3:19:28to support each action.

3:19:30As well, we also have approximately 50 unique indicators

3:19:34to monitor action outcomes

3:19:35in the housing affordability strategy.

3:19:38These indicators will be reported on

3:19:40the practice council and the public.

3:19:42Most of these indicators have data available

3:19:45on an annual basis,

3:19:46but we've also noted specific instances of cadence,

3:19:49and some of the indicators may also be limited

3:19:51by data quality,

3:19:53which will be mentioned as part of that future reporting.

3:19:58Finally, Attachment 4 contains several proformas

3:20:02for seven affordable housing development scenarios.

3:20:05A proforma is an economic projection tool

3:20:08that estimates potential revenues,

3:20:10expenses, and profitability of a development project.

3:20:13Proformas are based on assumptions and calculations,

3:20:17and they must be based on reliable information

3:20:20to create an accurate projection

3:20:22of the viability of a development.

3:20:24I wanna stress to council that the proformas included here

3:20:27should be considered very preliminary,

3:20:29and are just to provide some high-level information

3:20:32on potential costs and revenues

3:20:34associated with the various scenarios.

3:20:36More work will certainly be required,

3:20:38including introducing significant sensitivity tweaking

3:20:41for these scenarios to potentially become

3:20:43a real project in Guelph,

3:20:45which will then have further implications

3:20:48on the costs and revenues shown.

3:20:52So with that, I can close the presentation.

3:20:54These are staff's recommendations,

3:20:55and we're happy to answer any questions

3:20:57at the appropriate time.

3:20:59Thank you both for a very thorough presentation,

3:21:03and we really do appreciate it.

3:21:08As I said that we have many delegations,

3:21:10so we're gonna jump into that,

3:21:12and then we'll save questions that might come up

3:21:15to you as well.

3:21:17So again, no more than 10 minutes,

3:21:20and you will hear a chime at the nine-minute 30-second mark

3:21:24as a warning.

3:21:26If we get there, Susan Watson is already here.

3:21:30Thank you for joining us.

3:21:31Daniel Siegel is Daniel here?

3:21:34Video? Okay, maybe you heard me.

3:21:36You'll be in the wings on video.

3:21:40So welcome, Susan.

3:21:40Now you know the drill, I'll turn it over to you.

3:21:42Go ahead, head.

3:21:43Thank you.

3:21:44Mayor Guthrie and members of council,

3:21:46I'm gonna start with a pretty straightforward ask.

3:21:49Please put forward a motion this evening

3:21:52to move a vacant home tax and a vacant home registry

3:21:56from the medium priority bucket to the high priority bucket

3:22:01before you approve the overall

3:22:03housing affordability strategy.

3:22:06This is such low-hanging fruit that it's a no-brainer.

3:22:10Even Doug Ford's spring budget speech

3:22:12contained the line, an unoccupied home is unacceptable

3:22:17in a housing crisis.

3:22:19To draw a parallel, you can't buy a farm

3:22:22and take the farmland out of production

3:22:25without paying a hefty price through increased taxes.

3:22:28That tax disincentive recognizes

3:22:31the public benefit of productive farmland.

3:22:34Likewise, there is a negative impact on a community

3:22:37when buildings that could house people

3:22:39are withdrawn from the rental or sale market.

3:22:43Other municipalities are leaving us in the rearview mirror

3:22:46when it comes to taking action on this file.

3:22:49Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, Windsor, and Sault Ste. Marie

3:22:53currently all have vacancy taxes.

3:22:56We don't even have to reinvent the wheel.

3:22:59There are nine unoccupied homes

3:23:02within one kilometer of my house in the downtown.

3:23:06One of them is a beautiful detached brick heritage house

3:23:10which has sat vacant for 15 years.

3:23:15It was astounding to me that the consultants report

3:23:18we paid for on a vacancy tax

3:23:19failed to account for the public money

3:23:22that is saved when existing housing is optimized.

3:23:26Under new legislation, in certain cases,

3:23:29development charges can be completely waived

3:23:32for affordable or attainable housing,

3:23:35which means citizens can find themselves on the hook

3:23:37for a whopping public subsidy of $86,000 per detached house.

3:23:45Activating the nine houses in my neighborhood

3:23:48could save $774,000, three quarters of a million dollars

3:23:54of public money of what it would cost

3:23:56to subsidize nine new houses in a green field.

3:24:00Doug Ford isn't talking about his housing program anymore

3:24:04because it's been an abject failure.

3:24:07This past year has had the lowest housing start seen

3:24:10in almost 70 years.

3:24:13So I think it would be a good idea

3:24:14to start focusing on optimizing the housing

3:24:17we already have built,

3:24:19rather than participating in Doug's Ford's

3:24:21delusional fantasies about the private sector.

3:24:25And what if the owners of these nine houses

3:24:27decided to keep them vacant?

3:24:29If we assume a nice round figure

3:24:31that each house has an M-PAC assessment

3:24:33of half a million, $500,000 each,

3:24:36and then is taxed at Sault Ste. Marie's rate of 4%,

3:24:41those nine houses would generate revenue

3:24:43of $180,000 annually.

3:24:47That would be more than enough to pay for a staff person

3:24:49to administer this program,

3:24:51likely with lots left over.

3:24:54In two years, 2022 and 2023,

3:24:57the City of Toronto generated $106 million

3:25:01from their vacant home tax.

3:25:03For 2024, they've jacked the rate to 3%,

3:25:06and this year they expect to generate $105 million

3:25:10for this year alone.

3:25:12More importantly, the City of Toronto website

3:25:15states the following.

3:25:17The city anticipates that the higher taxation rate

3:25:21will encourage more previously vacant homes

3:25:23to be put on the market,

3:25:25helping to increase housing availability.

3:25:29So my message around a vacant home's tax

3:25:32is prioritize it and just do it.

3:25:37And now I wanna pivot to the humanitarian crisis

3:25:42that is unfolding in front of all of us,

3:25:45and the older I get and the more I see it,

3:25:47I don't find it any easier to deal with.

3:25:50There's an encampment of around 25 tents

3:25:54at the church I attend in Toronto,

3:25:56right beside the Toronto Eden Centre.

3:25:57This is an issue everywhere,

3:25:59and on every block there's someone sleeping

3:26:02on top of a heating vent, just trying to stay alive.

3:26:08Overall, in OECD countries,

3:26:11an average of 7% of the housing stock

3:26:14is government-owned social housing.

3:26:17Canada's rate is half that, at 3.5%.

3:26:23I learned from a recent Toronto Star article

3:26:25that Helsinki, Finland has essentially solved

3:26:29their homelessness problem with constant government

3:26:32investment, which now puts public social housing

3:26:35at 15% of their housing stock.

3:26:39In Vienna, Austria, that city's government

3:26:42owns and manages 25% of the housing stock,

3:26:47220,000 units, which are primarily

3:26:51for lower income residents.

3:26:54The fact that unprecedented numbers of Canadians

3:26:59cannot afford a roof over their heads,

3:27:03and are sleeping in tents or on heating vents

3:27:06simply to survive, is the culmination of 30 years

3:27:10of abject policy failure at all three levels of government.

3:27:16This experimentation with the private sector

3:27:19has been a complete and utter disaster,

3:27:21and it is time for it to end.

3:27:25Mayor Guthrie, you should be calling on Doug Ford

3:27:27to declare a state of emergency,

3:27:29not to invoke the notwithstanding clause.

3:27:33And I wanna be crystal clear for everyone

3:27:36what invoking that clause involves.

3:27:39It means overriding the charter rights

3:27:43of some of our most vulnerable citizens.

3:27:46So I'm gonna just jump in.

3:27:47Are we gonna talk about the affordable housing strategy?

3:27:52This is related in terms of where?

3:27:54Okay, keep going.

3:27:55I just wanna make sure we're on track.

3:27:57Go on, keep going.

3:27:58Thank you very much.

3:28:00Municipal governments have the right to clear encampments,

3:28:04but only if there is appropriate housing available

3:28:07for the individuals living in the encampment.

3:28:11What Mayor Guthrie is asking for is the right

3:28:14to dislocate unhoused people who are just trying to survive

3:28:18when they have no place else to go.

3:28:25The section of the charter that is at stake here,

3:28:28section seven, is our individual right to life,

3:28:32liberty, and security of person.

3:28:35And the charter exists precisely to protect us

3:28:38from government decisions.

3:28:39Again, are we gonna get to the meat of the report

3:28:42and the strategies that are ahead of us?

3:28:45I just wanna make sure,

3:28:46because we can't have two hours of people

3:28:50not speaking to the report.

3:28:51And I am just doing my job as the chair.

3:28:54We gotta make sure we're speaking to the report.

3:28:57So are we gonna get to that?

3:28:58Yes, if we're having an affordable housing strategy,

3:29:02it needs to focus on housing people who are homeless,

3:29:06not just people who are making between $60,000

3:29:09and $90,000 a year.

3:29:15What we're seeing is our mayor asking Doug Ford

3:29:18to allow him to override people's right to life.

3:29:22This would not just be a profound violation

3:29:25of our collective and individual rights,

3:29:27but a violation of internationally recognized human rights.

3:29:33Article three of the Universal Declaration

3:29:35of Human Rights exactly mirrors section seven of our charter.

3:29:40Everyone has the right to life, liberty,

3:29:44and security of person.

3:29:46And Mayor Guthrie, if you are unwilling

3:29:48to uphold Canadians' charter rights

3:29:52and internationally recognized human rights

3:29:55for the citizens of Guelph,

3:29:57as they pertain to simply staying alive,

3:30:01if you're not willing to do that,

3:30:02then I think you should resign.

3:30:06Okay, so we didn't get to the,

3:30:09we didn't get to anything in the report then, you're done?

3:30:12Did you hear what I had to say about the vacancy tax?

3:30:14I certainly did, but we'll leave it at that then.

3:30:17Is there any questions?

3:30:18And I do understand that there is a motion pertaining

3:30:21to this coming forward relating to the housing strategy.

3:30:24Today I read about that in Guelph today.

3:30:26Yeah, so you're wrong, that's tomorrow,

3:30:28that's not on the report for today,

3:30:29it's not on the agenda at all for today,

3:30:31which is why three times had to interject,

3:30:35because you're not speaking to the report.

3:30:36And I made it very clear to everyone here,

3:30:38as the chair, we need to make sure

3:30:41that we are maintaining our speaking to the report.

3:30:43You didn't do that, you're done now.

3:30:46So we're gonna stop there.

3:30:47So everyone can think about what you said

3:30:49for tomorrow's agenda, not today's,

3:30:52but is there any questions to the delegate at all?

3:30:56Okay, thank you very much.

3:30:57We're gonna move on to Daniel Siegel,

3:30:59who's gonna be joining us by video.

3:31:02And I would just ask that everyone please,

3:31:06don't put me in the position,

3:31:08to have to do what I already indicated,

3:31:11which is please speak to the actual agenda item

3:31:13that is in front of us.

3:31:14That's what we have to do here, okay?

3:31:16So speak to the agenda item that is in front of us.

3:31:19Is Daniel...

3:31:21Yep, hi there.

3:31:23Sorry, is it Daniel?

3:31:24Yes, Daniel.

3:31:25Daniel, thank you for inviting me this evening

3:31:27to your council meeting.

3:31:30My name is Daniel Siegel.

3:31:31I'm a Tarion builder who's been doing laneway houses

3:31:34and garden suites in Toronto and Hamilton since 2020.

3:31:38I've done one of the first garden suites in Toronto,

3:31:40one of the first laneway houses in Toronto,

3:31:42one of the first laneway houses in Hamilton.

3:31:45This is about my 45th delegation

3:31:48that I've done on affordable home ownership.

3:31:51And I wanted to directly jump in.

3:31:55My goal is to build 1000 units at or below

3:31:58the provincial detached purchase price

3:32:02for an affordable house,

3:32:03which in Guelph as in your presentation

3:32:06was $398,000 roughly,

3:32:10which is interesting because,

3:32:12when you compare that number to Toronto,

3:32:13it's actually higher than Toronto.

3:32:14And I'm not sure how they came up with these numbers,

3:32:16but in any case, that's my goal.

3:32:20I wanted to start with hope.

3:32:23I think that there's really good models south of the border

3:32:26for creating affordable housing.

3:32:28I would first point to Muskegon, Michigan,

3:32:30and Jake Eckhart who's been very successful

3:32:35at creating affordable houses since 2016.

3:32:38He's built about 200 of them,

3:32:40which I think would be comparable

3:32:42to what Guelph is looking to achieve.

3:32:44And they're doing it as a municipal developer.

3:32:48And I think that we could literally copy and paste

3:32:52successful policies, bylaws directly

3:32:56from our neighbor south of the border,

3:32:58that everything's fully available.

3:32:59And I'd be happy to go through staff with staff

3:33:02to highlight the appropriate sections

3:33:05and figure out how it's done.

3:33:07I've had a little bit of help developing this model

3:33:09from a fellow named James Tischler.

3:33:12He's at Michigan Lang Bank.

3:33:15But basically my goal here is to come before

3:33:17different municipalities and say,

3:33:18hey, I build tiny houses and I've been doing that

3:33:24for a while and I think I could help you.

3:33:27And in doing so, I wanna just very superficially go

3:33:33through some of the tenants that allow

3:33:35for affordable home ownership.

3:33:37The first principle is if you detach the value of the land

3:33:41from the value of the house, it becomes a long year.

3:33:43Sorry, Daniel, I'm gonna ask the clerk to stop the time

3:33:48that you have.

3:33:49Daniel, we don't allow people to come forward

3:33:53that are trying to sell us something,

3:33:56a product or a service that they are.

3:33:59We need people to speak to the actual agenda item

3:34:02and the report that is in front of us.

3:34:04And so I just wanna be cautioned.

3:34:06I wanna caution you that you stick to actually speaking

3:34:10to the report and not to kind of merge into the services

3:34:15that you provide, this isn't a form for that.

3:34:18So can you just acknowledge that

3:34:21and I'll let you the time continue for you.

3:34:23But you can't be kind of speaking

3:34:25about the services that you provide, okay?

3:34:28I don't think I even went into the services,

3:34:30but I will take that into account.

3:34:34Let's continue the time.

3:34:35Thank you so much.

3:34:36Yeah.

3:34:37So based on, if you're able to separate the value

3:34:43of the land from the value of the house,

3:34:44it becomes feasible to sell at or below a purchase price

3:34:48of $398,000.

3:34:51And I wanted to pick up from where Ms. Craig was talking

3:34:54about community land trusts and using special vehicles

3:34:58to ensure long-term affordability of houses

3:35:01that I think is really the future.

3:35:04And I think that one of the obstacles municipalities

3:35:07across the province come across when they wanna become

3:35:10developers is that they lack the internal staff.

3:35:13And this is where municipal housing corporations come in

3:35:17and they work with community land trusts to use principles

3:35:20of equity sharing as property values go up

3:35:24to maintain future affordability.

3:35:25So when I had a presentation with the mayor of Newmarket,

3:35:30John Taylor, he said, Dan, I don't really like your model

3:35:33because it's kind of like a lottery.

3:35:36And I think that is a significant risk

3:35:38when you do create affordable housing

3:35:41that the first person who's able to buy that affordable house

3:35:44gets a deal.

3:35:45And what we have to figure out is how to make sure

3:35:48that when you make an affordable house,

3:35:50it doesn't just get flipped three years later

3:35:52for three times the price.

3:35:54And so with that, I just wanna talk about something

3:35:58that counselor Alts mentioned, or at least was getting at

3:36:01when he was asking Ms. Craig about how do we make homes

3:36:06and not investment properties?

3:36:08And the key to that is then subdividing the idea

3:36:11of doing four units on a property from somebody

3:36:14who could afford to build a million and a half dollars

3:36:17worth of houses to being able to have shares

3:36:21in that particular lot either set up as a condo corp,

3:36:26community land trust, a co-op,

3:36:28or even as they do in Rideau Lakes

3:36:32where they have a cluster of tiny dwellings.

3:36:35And I think there really has to be a little bit more

3:36:38discussion about how we steer creation of housing

3:36:45towards homes and not investment vehicles for people.

3:36:49And I think really the future is community land trust,

3:36:53co-ops, condos and these tiny dwelling communities.

3:36:56So with that, I'm not gonna take up any more of your time

3:36:59but I seriously applied the work that you're doing.

3:37:02I think it's super important.

3:37:04I put you up there with some of the most progressive

3:37:06municipalities that I've done delegations for.

3:37:09And I think affordable home ownership is a very strong

3:37:14solution to the housing crisis.

3:37:16It's a supply-driven solution.

3:37:17And I think there's very good data supporting

3:37:22creation of new houses as a solution.

3:37:25So with that, I wanna thank you for your time.

3:37:28And I'm here to answer any questions you may have.

3:37:32Thank you so much for your presentation.

3:37:33Thanks for getting through that with us.

3:37:35Councillor Allt has a question for you.

3:37:38Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor.

3:37:40Through you to the delegate.

3:37:42Mr. Siegel, you piqued my interest,

3:37:45especially when you raised my name.

3:37:47But I'm hoping that you can help me to understand

3:37:50a little bit the co-op ownership model

3:37:53and the legality of it in Ontario,

3:37:55especially combined with land trusts.

3:37:58I need a little bit of education on this,

3:38:00somewhat familiar, but not enough to really get a grasp.

3:38:05So,

3:38:08let's just break it down to a very simple idea.

3:38:13So you own a property you might have paid

3:38:16a million dollars for,

3:38:17and then you put an ADU in the basement,

3:38:19maybe that's 200,000.

3:38:21And then you put an attached ADU

3:38:23and maybe that's 350,000.

3:38:25So now you have a property worth one and a half million dollars.

3:38:28And normal people can't do this.

3:38:31You need access to capital.

3:38:33And normally you can only borrow three to four times

3:38:36what your annual income is.

3:38:38And so under this scenario,

3:38:40this is an investment property.

3:38:42This isn't homes.

3:38:43And so the way to take a multi-unit residential property

3:38:47and chop it up into homes is to allow ownership of that.

3:38:51And in doing so,

3:38:52when you set up an alternative structure like a condo corp,

3:38:55you then divide that whole property into shares.

3:38:59And then you could say, well, you could have three shares

3:39:01and you could have three shares

3:39:02and you could have three shares and I'll keep one.

3:39:04And there were at 10.

3:39:05And then we have votes and we have annual meetings.

3:39:07And so using these alternative structures

3:39:10for multi-residential properties

3:39:13allows for people to have ownership.

3:39:16And Canada is based on home ownership.

3:39:18We have preferential tax treatment for homes,

3:39:22primary residence exceptions.

3:39:23And that's where most of Canadians equity wealth lies.

3:39:28And it's their source of the growth of that wealth.

3:39:31And so this has happened in Toronto.

3:39:34I don't know how successful it was,

3:39:35but somebody took a three-unit house in East York

3:39:41and turned it into a condo corp

3:39:43and tried to sell off the little pieces.

3:39:45Unfortunately, it's not a viable option.

3:39:48The resale market for ADUs is not great.

3:39:52Traditional banks don't underwrite those type of deals.

3:39:55They'll value an ADU like a garage.

3:39:59I've tried to refinance them, they don't work.

3:40:01And so using these alternative structures

3:40:04like a condo corp, a community land trust or a co-op

3:40:07allows to take this one and a half million dollar property

3:40:11and then allow other people to own different parts of it.

3:40:14So for a community land trust,

3:40:15they'd be interested in holding the land.

3:40:19I like to think of community land trust

3:40:21similar to environmental protection agencies.

3:40:25Whereas I would say an environmental protection agency

3:40:31is responsible for protecting the environment,

3:40:34a land trust does the same thing

3:40:36for affordability of houses.

3:40:38And so the way that it works with the community land trust,

3:40:40you might buy a share of the house

3:40:42and might go up by a certain percentage over time.

3:40:44And then when you eventually sell it,

3:40:46a portion of that increased equity

3:40:48goes right back to the community land trust

3:40:50to make the next generation,

3:40:52be able to afford that house

3:40:53at that affordable purchase price.

3:40:55And then the last thing I really wanna go into

3:40:56is the cluster of tiny dwellings

3:40:59that they have in Rideau Lake subject to bylaws,

3:41:01section 2.4.5E, which is a really interesting idea

3:41:06that allows for basically ground leases

3:41:09as far as I could tell,

3:41:10it's something I'm currently looking into,

3:41:12but it allows people to own the house that they live on,

3:41:17but not necessarily on the land,

3:41:19which is beneficial because as I mentioned

3:41:20during my presentation,

3:41:21if you're able to separate the value of the house

3:41:23from the value of the land

3:41:24and you could get a mortgage on the house,

3:41:27the numbers start to work again,

3:41:28kind of like they did 15 years ago.

3:41:31Thank you very much, Mr. Stegel.

3:41:33Thank you very much.

3:41:34I appreciate that and I appreciate your reference

3:41:36to Rideau Lakes, that part of it,

3:41:39I'll look at online, I apologize.

3:41:42We do have a ton of people we have to hear from as well

3:41:44and thank you again.

3:41:46My pleasure.

3:41:48Thank you, let me just see

3:41:49if there's another follow-up question for you.

3:41:53There isn't, but thank you very much, Daniel,

3:41:55and have a good night, okay?

3:41:57Thanks for your time.

3:42:00So Adam, C. Goel is, I don't know if they're related or not,

3:42:04but Adam is going to join us by video.

3:42:08So Adam actually won't be joining this evening.

3:42:11Oh, okay, perfect.

3:42:14Thank you.

3:42:15David McCauley, I know I saw David sitting over there,

3:42:18so, and then is Mike Lab here?

3:42:22Okay, right in the front row, perfect, you're in the wings.

3:42:24Okay, Mike?

3:42:29Thanks for coming, David, and I'll turn it over to you

3:42:31whenever you're ready, okay?

3:42:32Thank you, Mr. Marin, I don't think I'm going to take

3:42:34even five minutes.

3:42:36So I first want to congratulate staff, consultants,

3:42:38and council for the work you've done to combat

3:42:41the housing crisis and golf,

3:42:42including the Affordable Housing Strategy.

3:42:45I attended a pop-up engagement event

3:42:47at Victoria Road Center and went to the virtual event as well.

3:42:51And what I want to address is item 5.3,

3:42:54the high priority action item, paragraph 222,

3:42:58page 32, which reads,

3:43:01explore other types of housing that are right for golf.

3:43:05So, though I'm not conversant with financing,

3:43:07developing affordable housing,

3:43:09I have expertise in designing emerging housing models

3:43:14and have lived in watershed co-housing for over two years,

3:43:16now, believe it or not.

3:43:18So when I graduated from architectural school,

3:43:20I chose golf very carefully because of the nature

3:43:23of the community, the impressions, the location,

3:43:26and the diversity that we have in terms of the architecture,

3:43:29where you have small, newer homes interlaced

3:43:33with heritage homes and that type of thing.

3:43:37I like the mixture of the community

3:43:38and the small apartment buildings and businesses

3:43:41that are interjected into a lot of the older neighborhoods

3:43:43in golf and they're very walkable

3:43:45in tree-lined streets and established neighborhoods.

3:43:48And golf remains an attractive place to live, work,

3:43:52raise a family, and run a business.

3:43:54In my opinion, mixed use, complete neighborhoods

3:43:57with all types of housing, including the mixing missile,

3:44:00is the answer to address the need for affordable housing

3:44:03and is right for golf.

3:44:06Luxury rise, high rise luxury condominiums,

3:44:10large institutional long-term care and retirement homes,

3:44:13wherever they are, down tone or in suburbia,

3:44:16do not foster community to the detriment

3:44:19of outdoor spaces, sidewalks, streets, parks,

3:44:22and natural environment heritage and surrounding housing.

3:44:25For my over 50 years practicing architecture in golf,

3:44:29the design, most of my designs have been for not

3:44:32for profit facilities and I won't go through a list,

3:44:34I'll just mention Grace Gardens, Windham House,

3:44:37Hospice, Humane Society, Women in Crisis,

3:44:39Salvation Army, et cetera.

3:44:41So there are many types, many models, housing models,

3:44:44which have been proven to be foster communities,

3:44:46such as co-housing, co-living, lodging houses, group homes,

3:44:51and communal spaces, care homes, Abbey Field,

3:44:54we had the second one in Canada actually here,

3:44:57small 12 bed long-term care, which they're doing

3:44:59in Alberta now, which takes away the institutionalization

3:45:03of that field, and communal places with compact,

3:45:06much more compact individual units and shared kitchens

3:45:09and other support facilities.

3:45:12Some of these homes are short-term, some permanent,

3:45:15and some address urgent needs

3:45:16and others anticipated future needs even.

3:45:19Most of us are blessed to have housing choices, unfortunately.

3:45:23Many have few options, and that's the most urgent need,

3:45:26as we know.

3:45:28All Hasling that is designed to support community

3:45:30have documented sustained benefits to health,

3:45:33fitness, happiness, longevity, safety, security,

3:45:36engagement, value and sense of belonging and ownership,

3:45:40and a lower cost of living, that's proven.

3:45:43People who work in support of community housing facilities

3:45:46also share the same benefits in their career,

3:45:48where they have employees.

3:45:50There are a lot of examples of local community living,

3:45:53and I've mentioned a number of those,

3:45:56and we can go on, other people will talk

3:45:57about some of those as well, so I'm not gonna provide a list,

3:45:59and you could probably supplement that in any case.

3:46:03Many of these projects, I just wanna say,

3:46:05have had lengthy and costly planning approval processes,

3:46:09and we need a plan for mixed use, inclusionary zoning,

3:46:13and for instance, allow as of right residential uses

3:46:17in underutilized office and commercial zones,

3:46:19which I have on my section of Warwick Street,

3:46:21just north of London Road.

3:46:24So organizations that are achievable in community living

3:46:28include neighborhood associations,

3:46:30such as West Village Co-op, Habitat for Humanities,

3:46:33Stepping Stones, Community Health Center,

3:46:35Hope House, YMCA, and Places of Worship, et cetera.

3:46:39After completing the Wellington County's

3:46:41Affordable Housing Workshop series last week,

3:46:44just last Monday, several local individuals and stakeholders

3:46:47with experience and expertise networked,

3:46:49and we intend to dedicate with dedication to collaborate,

3:46:53innovate, and implement the complement,

3:46:55completion of affordable housing with many people

3:46:58and organizations represented in this room

3:47:00and elsewhere in our community.

3:47:02So this was the tenor of the completion of the event

3:47:04that some of the consultants were at.

3:47:06And we look forward to working with the city's leadership

3:47:09to address the dire need for achievable housing for all.

3:47:11And that's the conclusion of my remarks.

3:47:13Yeah, thank you so much, David.

3:47:16We appreciate that.

3:47:16Is there any follow-up for David at all?

3:47:20There isn't, but thank you very much.

3:47:22We appreciate your presentation.

3:47:24Thank you, and I hope to hear from other people as well.

3:47:26I'm happy to be part of a collaborative group

3:47:28that brings some of these people together

3:47:29and provide expertise.

3:47:31We have a resource that's starting

3:47:33and happy to work with staff, council, neighborhood groups,

3:47:36whatever it does, but it might be a very large forum.

3:47:39And it's a good thing to do.

3:47:40Okay, thank you.

3:47:41Thank you.

3:47:42We'll bring the pizza.

3:47:43Sounds like a good group.

3:47:46Mike, you're up, thank you.

3:47:49And then next in the wings is Adrian Dingell,

3:47:52who is going to be joining us by video.

3:47:54So Mike, thanks for coming, and I'll turn it over to you.

3:47:58Yes, Mayor Guthrie, members of council.

3:48:01I will be brief.

3:48:04I want to thank staff for their report,

3:48:07and I actually enjoyed the presentation.

3:48:09I thought they did a good summary of what was in the report

3:48:12and has actually given me a few things to think about.

3:48:15So I'm here.

3:48:15I'm pleased as one of the nonprofit delivery agencies

3:48:19active in Guelph to be speaking at council today

3:48:22in support of the affordable housing strategy.

3:48:25For those who don't know,

3:48:26I'm president of Home Opportunities.

3:48:29We agree with the need for at least 26,000 units by 2021,

3:48:35and would like to confirm that we believe

3:48:37that a significant number of these units

3:48:38should meet the rental affordable housing guidelines

3:48:41in the report.

3:48:42We also believe that there is a backlog

3:48:44of affordable housing, which the city should address

3:48:47through the housing affordability strategy.

3:48:51So we're actually saying that there should be

3:48:52more affordable units because there's

3:48:55old units from the past.

3:48:58We also support the direction that council

3:49:00is taking with respect to the CIP

3:49:03and the use of the affordable housing accelerator funding.

3:49:06As mentioned at the November 13th meeting,

3:49:09we recommend that in addition of a workforce housing stream

3:49:13to the affordable housing strategy be considered.

3:49:17We support referring the development

3:49:19of this workforce, home ownership housing stream to staff

3:49:22in order to provide a comprehensive report

3:49:24back to council early next year.

3:49:27We have provided additional information

3:49:29in our council package on the definition of affordable

3:49:33for this housing stream, and are now suggesting

3:49:36that we synchronize with the recommendations

3:49:38of the strategy for affordable rental

3:49:40as it applies to workforce housing ownership

3:49:44developed by nonprofit delivery agencies.

3:49:46The definitional stuff will take some work.

3:49:48It's, you can even tell from the presentation

3:49:50that it's quite complex.

3:49:53Our request for providing incremental property tax

3:49:55funding and municipal application fee deferrals remains.

3:49:59Use of these financial tools will accelerate

3:50:02affordable housing production while protecting

3:50:04taxpayers from increases related

3:50:06to achievable home ownership models.

3:50:09We look forward to working with staff

3:50:11on this major addition to the housing affordability strategy

3:50:16that will eventually allow all of the nonprofit housing

3:50:19delivery agencies in Guelph to deliver a thousand units

3:50:22per year of critically needed affordable housing.

3:50:25And finally, I wanna take advantage of my age

3:50:27and I wanna mention that this feels to me a lot like 1991.

3:50:33In 1991, we were all feeling good about all the programs

3:50:37that were there, everything was moving smoothly.

3:50:39In Toronto, we were up to 10,000 units a year

3:50:42of affordable housing and two changes of government later

3:50:45in 1993, everything was shut off.

3:50:47And what we hadn't done was planning to have programs

3:50:51that didn't need that subsidy in order to continue

3:50:54moving forward.

3:50:55And part of what we're trying to build

3:50:57into your housing strategy is something that will work

3:50:59without grants and subsidies so that regardless

3:51:02of what upper levels of government,

3:51:03you can continue to serve both your industries

3:51:06and the housing needs of the city.

3:51:09And that is my presentation.

3:51:12Great, thank you very much.

3:51:15I was 16 in 1991.

3:51:20So is there any follow-up questions?

3:51:22Councillor Goller.

3:51:24Thank you and through your worship, Mr. Alibay.

3:51:26Thank you for your presentation.

3:51:28I just wanted to be clear on what you mentioned

3:51:31about the reliance on government grants.

3:51:33So we have the housing affordability fund

3:51:36that has come to us, but I think there is a concern

3:51:40that if the government changes,

3:51:43the rest of the funding may not be available.

3:51:46How would the tax incremental deferrals be different

3:51:49than the grants that are being provided

3:51:52through what we see here in the housing affordability

3:51:56strategy and the CIP?

3:51:59Yeah, as we envisage it, once we work this through

3:52:03with staff is that the tax incremental grants are grants.

3:52:08That's not something that the taxpayers of wealth

3:52:11can manage for large numbers of units.

3:52:13So our intention is to set up a program whereby which,

3:52:16through the resale of the units, the taxes get repaid

3:52:20so that we're dealing with cash flow,

3:52:22not out-of-pocket expenses to the taxpayer.

3:52:25Okay, and so what would be the length as we talk?

3:52:34Oh, yeah, absolutely.

3:52:35No, I'm thinking about a program for when the funding

3:52:41that we have for the half runs out,

3:52:43because it sounds like this would be something

3:52:46that does not have to be funded,

3:52:49but there is a cost to deferring those tax payments.

3:52:55So what would be the length that you're seeing

3:52:58with these deferrals?

3:53:00So the math we've done in general,

3:53:02not on a specific project,

3:53:04would mean that the taxes would be,

3:53:09the deferral be less and less each year.

3:53:11So over a period of 10 years, it would go down to zero.

3:53:16Once you get to zero or after 10 years,

3:53:17you'd need another three years to catch up

3:53:19for the ones that were deferred prior to the 10th year.

3:53:22Okay, and are other municipalities in Ontario

3:53:27using this model to support affordable rental

3:53:31or affordable ownership bills?

3:53:33They're using it for both,

3:53:37but they still do it in a lot of cases as waiving

3:53:41rather than deferrals.

3:53:42It's more common to waive than defer,

3:53:45but then they can't do as many units,

3:53:47except for the City of Toronto,

3:53:48it seems to have an infinite tax base

3:53:50and they're willing to waive taxes for 99 years

3:53:52to get their affordability, but that's City of Toronto.

3:53:55That's not the rest of you.

3:53:57Okay, thank you very much.

3:53:59Thank you, Worship.

3:54:00Thank you.

3:54:02Let me just see if there's anything further.

3:54:03There is not.

3:54:04Again, thanks Mike, thank you very much for your presentation.

3:54:08Adrian Dingle is going to join us by video, I believe.

3:54:16Good evening, everybody.

3:54:18Good evening, and thank you very much for joining us

3:54:22and you as well have up to 10 minutes.

3:54:25If you do need it, please go right ahead.

3:54:27Thank you Mayor Guthrie.

3:54:27Thank you Council and staff for hosting me here tonight.

3:54:30My name is Adrian Dingle and I'm representing in my capacity

3:54:32as the Head of Housing Development at Raising the Roof.

3:54:35We're a registered non-profit national charitable organization.

3:54:39I am a citizen of Guelph,

3:54:41although we have a national scope of Raising the Roof.

3:54:43I just wanted to show up here tonight in this forum

3:54:46and say thank you to staff and to Council

3:54:47for all the work that's been done

3:54:48to put forward this report tonight

3:54:51and show my support generally

3:54:52as a potential housing service delivery provider

3:54:55for Guelph in the future.

3:54:56There's a ton of terrific initiatives

3:54:58that are being put forward here.

3:55:00I would highlight in particular the prioritization

3:55:03of existing municipal housing resources

3:55:06or land resources that could be considered

3:55:09for housing in the future,

3:55:10as well as those opportunities to find ways to save costs

3:55:14for the developers, including waiver of permit fees,

3:55:18tax increment financing and things like that in the future.

3:55:20I really hope that this is the first step on the path

3:55:24to additional programming that can be made available

3:55:27specifically for affordable housing,

3:55:28deeply affordable housing and supportive housing

3:55:30that can benefit people that might be at risk of experience

3:55:33homelessness in our community.

3:55:35And I just wanted to put my hat in the ring

3:55:37as a potential affordable housing developer

3:55:40and say that this programming and these initiatives

3:55:42have caught the attention of groups like Raising the Roof

3:55:45and others across Canada that will be looking

3:55:47to develop affordable housing in the community.

3:55:49Thanks very much for your time.

3:55:50I'll be very brief.

3:55:51I know there's a long list of people behind me

3:55:53and very happy to speak with members of Council

3:55:55and staff regarding our own initiatives across Canada

3:55:58and potentially in Guelph in the future.

3:56:00Thanks very much.

3:56:03Thank you very much, Adrienne.

3:56:05We appreciate you joining us tonight in your presentation.

3:56:09Is there any further questions for the delegate or anybody?

3:56:13There isn't, so thank you very much for stopping by.

3:56:16Appreciate it.

3:56:19Mary Kate, come on down again.

3:56:25Frequent flyer card for you tonight.

3:56:27Have like a stamp on your card.

3:56:32So you're up and then, hey, Morgan Dandy,

3:56:35you are in the wings, so go right ahead.

3:56:39Okay, thank you and thanks for giving me the space

3:56:42to speak again.

3:56:43Again, I'm here on behalf of the Junction Village

3:56:47Community Land Trust, so please go to our website

3:56:51and check out our vision and mission

3:56:54and some of the work that we've been doing.

3:56:56But I just wanted to point to what the Junction Village

3:57:01Community Land Trust and the Land Trust model,

3:57:04and this is what Daniel was pointing to, what it can do,

3:57:10it is a way to actually remove properties

3:57:15from the speculative market and to hold them

3:57:18in permanent affordable housing.

3:57:21So I think, we actually took a long time to get to this model

3:57:26as the model to move forward, and I have been looking

3:57:30at this internationally and looking at this in Canada,

3:57:33and in Canada this did not start to move forwards

3:57:37because really, as we've been talking about this 30 year gap

3:57:40that has meant that models like this just could not exist.

3:57:44Now we're seeing this acceleration,

3:57:46and I feel very honored, proud to have helped

3:57:52to create this, but it is now here to be used, right?

3:57:56We created it because we could see it could help

3:57:59solve some of the problems that we were facing

3:58:02in the Junction Village where we were holding this question

3:58:05of how do we decommodify land and how do we create

3:58:10long-term affordable housing?

3:58:12Having got to this, it's now an offering.

3:58:15It's like we want this to become something that is large.

3:58:19We want this to be across the city,

3:58:22but in order for something like the Junction Village

3:58:25to keep acquiring more and more lands,

3:58:29we will need an acquisition fund, and that is the one thing.

3:58:33It's embedded in that, and I have been part of the process

3:58:36of creating this, but we need an acquisition fund.

3:58:40There needs to be money that's available to rapidly acquire

3:58:44existing properties and existing spaces

3:58:47where we could develop more housing

3:58:49so that this is not lost now.

3:58:52So that's my one thing that I would like to see highlighted

3:58:58in this more, and I really applaud what has already happened.

3:59:04And as I said, I've been embedded in this process

3:59:08and giving feedback all the way through,

3:59:11but I really feel like for us to actually do this quickly,

3:59:15we need to mirror what has happened elsewhere.

3:59:20And yes, we can do it on a property by property basis,

3:59:25and we can talk about how we create this,

3:59:28but we need large amounts of cash

3:59:30that are available right now, and this won't be ongoing

3:59:35because the beautiful thing about a model

3:59:37like a community land trust is you are actually changing

3:59:42the acquisition of funds, like the acquisition of wealth,

3:59:47changes from an individual who is creating wealth

3:59:52through holding properties into communities

3:59:57are actually getting that wealth.

3:59:59So we're removing properties from the speculative market,

4:00:04and then we're actually building wealth for the community

4:00:07and we're building it with the value

4:00:12that will not allow this to keep happening.

4:00:14So what I'm asking for is how do we inject

4:00:18an acquisition fund in some sort of way

4:00:21so that we can rapidly acquire many, many properties

4:00:26in order to actually allow gentle density

4:00:30to move forwards rapidly and affordable

4:00:33and deeply affordable housing to move forwards really rapidly,

4:00:37and it allows for affordable ownership.

4:00:41So everything that we want to create

4:00:44could, I'm not saying it's the only thing,

4:00:46but could be solved through these community land trusts.

4:00:51And so I'm just here to say we're here to partner,

4:00:54we're here to help collaborate and create this,

4:00:57and this, what we have created is ready to go.

4:01:02We've got a great board of directors,

4:01:04we've done the work over the last year to have this happen,

4:01:08and it's a call out, please come and help us,

4:01:11and let's make funds available to acquire

4:01:15as many existing affordable properties and protect them,

4:01:20and that's together, responsibly steward

4:01:23and responsibly develop properties

4:01:26to actually create this vision rapidly.

4:01:29That's all I got.

4:01:31You didn't look at notes once, did you know that?

4:01:34Well, they're here.

4:01:37All right, thank you.

4:01:37I got Linda, I got Linda, House or Busatil,

4:01:40and then I saw another hand go up, where was it?

4:01:42Qasim, okay.

4:01:44The two of you, go ahead, Linda.

4:01:45Thank you, I'm through the mayor.

4:01:46Thank you for your delegation.

4:01:48And I think what you're speaking to is about cooling

4:01:50the demand on opposite ends of the housing continuum.

4:01:55And I just want to be clear that,

4:01:58so you're talking about deeply affordable,

4:02:00and the retention, this is a retention strategy,

4:02:03or are you also talking about affordable purchase?

4:02:09And my last question is whether or not you're familiar

4:02:12with union co-op and union co-ops work in Waterloo.

4:02:16I know the mayor in my community role,

4:02:19a number of years ago, we invited them to come

4:02:21and speak to us.

4:02:22So if you could just clarify.

4:02:24Yes, we are aware of union,

4:02:26and we've been chatting to Sean over the years.

4:02:30So we're actually talking across the board, right?

4:02:33So community land trust can underpin anything.

4:02:39It is just holding the land.

4:02:42It's holding the land, and then it's creating the solution.

4:02:45So on a community land trust owned property,

4:02:48you can create deeply affordable housing,

4:02:52but you could also create just below market housing.

4:02:56So you can do everything.

4:02:57You can have co-ops, you can have co-living.

4:03:00Like it's about removing the land

4:03:04from the speculative market,

4:03:05and then working together to create the solutions

4:03:09that make sense for each community

4:03:10and in different parts of the city.

4:03:13So it's everything, yeah.

4:03:18Thank you, Councillor, and then Councillor Clausson.

4:03:20Yes, thank you through you, Mr. Mayor,

4:03:22to the delegate through your presentation

4:03:25and for your passion and the work

4:03:26that you're doing in the community.

4:03:27It's inspiring.

4:03:29I'll just jump right to the point.

4:03:30So you talked about an acquisition fund

4:03:32needing money to do this kind of thing.

4:03:35So my specific question is,

4:03:36do you know of governments doing this,

4:03:38specifically municipal governments?

4:03:40And maybe you could just elaborate

4:03:42and talk a little bit more about that.

4:03:43Yeah, so there is no community land trust

4:03:47that I know of in Canada

4:03:49that has not been able to do this through municipal support.

4:03:53So they are all partnered with municipalities,

4:03:56every single one of them.

4:03:58And in Toronto, the municipality,

4:04:02I'm gonna get the exact number wrong,

4:04:04but it's like 87 houses were recently gifted

4:04:09to the community land trust.

4:04:10And the community land trust is now renovating

4:04:13and creating them.

4:04:14There are five or six community land trusts

4:04:16that now exist in Toronto.

4:04:20And in Vancouver, there's a number.

4:04:22Ottawa just purchased a building with municipal support.

4:04:25Hamilton has a community land trust and is purchasing.

4:04:29So it always is in partnership with the municipality.

4:04:34So we're here and we're like, we've got the vehicle,

4:04:37let's partner, let's do this,

4:04:39and let's do it on a large scale.

4:04:40So definitely, and we have had very few in Canada,

4:04:46but now that we've got the Canadian network

4:04:49of community land trusts,

4:04:50which formed out of a CMHC funding proposal,

4:04:53we now have this network, it's happening rapidly.

4:04:56Muskoka's got a community land trust,

4:04:58like they're popping up everywhere.

4:05:01When I started this, there were three community land trusts

4:05:07in Canada and now it's like they're popping up everywhere.

4:05:11I think there's probably 50 or 60 in works

4:05:17and moving forward.

4:05:18So yeah, this is a model, let's go.

4:05:21Okay, really appreciate the answer.

4:05:23Thanks, Rikki.

4:05:25Sure, sure, Councillor O'Rourke.

4:05:26And then, yeah, we'll finish with you, go ahead.

4:05:29Through you, Marga, through to the delegate.

4:05:30This is really interesting model.

4:05:33I thought that Toronto had started their land trust

4:05:38because under the old rules that have changed,

4:05:42a municipality could collect development charges

4:05:45for housing.

4:05:47And so it was my understanding that when

4:05:50the provincial government eliminated that ability

4:05:53to collect development charges for housing of any kind,

4:05:58that the ability to collect some development charges

4:06:02in order to preserve some affordable land or gift land,

4:06:06that type of thing or acquire land is vanished.

4:06:12So I'm just curious if you know the other municipalities

4:06:16that are starting land trusts or contributing to land trusts,

4:06:20would you know where their funding is coming from?

4:06:23So I don't necessarily know where their funding

4:06:29is coming from, probably a number of different sources.

4:06:33But to my understanding, municipalities aren't starting

4:06:39land trusts for the most part.

4:06:42Land trusts are being started because they're grassroots.

4:06:44They come from need.

4:06:47Most of the ones that have started in Toronto

4:06:50have started because a group has a building that is at risk

4:06:56and it's at risk of gentrification

4:06:58and a developer coming in and they know

4:07:00that they're about to be unhoused

4:07:03and that their housing is,

4:07:04and that group of people are coming together

4:07:07and that's usually what's forming the community land trust.

4:07:11So it's fairly place-based.

4:07:14This community land trust that has formed here in Guelph

4:07:16hasn't formed out of that.

4:07:18It's formed out of the Junction Village Guelph

4:07:22and it's been incubated inside of that.

4:07:24But it could be used for anything

4:07:26that we want to use it for in this solution.

4:07:28But where the funding comes from to support it

4:07:33is very different in different places.

4:07:34Sometimes the municipalities supporting through gifting land.

4:07:38So sometimes they're saying,

4:07:40okay, we could put affordable housing here

4:07:42and we will gift this land to the community land trust

4:07:46who holds it and then partners with the developer.

4:07:49Often the community land trust

4:07:50isn't managing those properties either.

4:07:53They're like often there's a large partnership

4:07:58that looks different in different places.

4:08:00Sometimes it's orphan houses

4:08:02that the municipality has taken back

4:08:07and are in need of repair.

4:08:10Circle community land trust is completely based

4:08:13on renovating and then refilling houses

4:08:17that were orphan housing.

4:08:19So it's a variety of different things.

4:08:21But a lot of it will be also helping those community land

4:08:25trust to access funds through CMHC

4:08:28or through other mechanisms.

4:08:31Okay, thank you.

4:08:32I'll connect to learn more.

4:08:33Thanks.

4:08:36Thank you so much again.

4:08:37Okay.

4:08:38You're not in the next item, are you?

4:08:40No, you're not.

4:08:41So you get to go home.

4:08:42Okay.

4:08:44Morgan Dandy, come on down.

4:08:47And as I had said earlier, everyone,

4:08:49we were gonna take another 20 minute break after Morgan.

4:08:53Okay.

4:08:54So we're gonna take a 20 minute break after this

4:08:56and then come back.

4:08:58So we'll just hear Morgan and then we'll go from there.

4:09:01Okay.

4:09:02Go ahead, Morgan.

4:09:04Council, staff, fellow Gwalfites,

4:09:07today we mark an important point in the journey

4:09:10to the next step in housing over 200,000 people by 2051.

4:09:18We have an affordable housing strategy

4:09:21to guide our growth inclusive of all the people who do

4:09:26and will call Gwalf home.

4:09:29My involvement with the housing affordability strategy

4:09:32began in April, when the house was first presented

4:09:36to the Planning Advisory Committee

4:09:38and staff invited everyone to attend a workshop

4:09:41the following day.

4:09:43I had recently begun consulting on an initiative

4:09:46which had a housing component

4:09:48and wanted to learn what the house was about

4:09:51and how the initiative's concepts might be introduced

4:09:55and included.

4:09:58The various reports that informed the housing

4:10:00affordability strategy show what anyone trying to rent

4:10:06in Gwalf knows.

4:10:09We need more purpose built rental units.

4:10:16I'm one who prefers to rent.

4:10:20I want more choice as to the type of home

4:10:25I have than is currently available.

4:10:31As the housing affordability strategy was drafted

4:10:34my passion for the initiative grew

4:10:38and I became one of the principles

4:10:40of Lilypads communities.

4:10:44Lilypads is committed to creating routes

4:10:48toward low cost attainable homes

4:10:51geared toward well-being

4:10:54for low income individuals and families.

4:10:58Leveraging the benefits of land recycling

4:11:01and sustainable living designs,

4:11:03we reduce housing insecurity

4:11:06and increase access to basic needs.

4:11:11The staff report outlines the areas of housing

4:11:14that the city cannot control

4:11:16and Lilypads is prepared to help leap over those gaps.

4:11:22By working with property owners across the city

4:11:25to build quickly using low cost energy efficient materials

4:11:29in a streamlined process, thereby accelerating timelines.

4:11:34Lilypads is committed to providing attainable

4:11:38affordable units for home seekers

4:11:40in as little as eight weeks from approvals.

4:11:45The Gwalf housing affordability strategy engagement

4:11:47experience has been one where I have felt hurt.

4:11:52It leaves me feeling that the housing affordability

4:11:54strategy team has reflected what the community wants

4:11:58to see and provide while remaining clear

4:12:03about the role the city can play.

4:12:06With the implementation of the housing affordability strategy,

4:12:10coming at the point when Lilypads is prepared

4:12:12to begin conversations with property owners,

4:12:15we are looking forward to continuing to steward

4:12:18a strong relationship with staff

4:12:20to bring more attainable affordable homes

4:12:24to more people faster.

4:12:27Thank you.

4:12:28Thank you, Morgan, for your presentation.

4:12:31And I'm just gonna see if there's any follow up for you.

4:12:34There is not.

4:12:36So thank you very much for coming.

4:12:39All right, everyone, it is 7.05.

4:12:41We're gonna come back here at 7.25.

4:12:45And we're gonna start with Ryan,

4:12:48who I think I saw here earlier,

4:12:51way at the back there.

4:12:51You're gonna be the first one back.

4:12:54I'm sure it will be riveting, everyone.

4:12:55So make sure you're back here right at 7.25

4:12:58to hear what their presentation is from Ryan, okay?

4:13:00Thank you very much.

4:32:42Okay, everyone, this is your one minute warning, okay?

4:32:47Everybody, one minute warning.

4:32:49Thank you, Councillor Caton for the wind.

4:33:03Jumping on there right away.

4:33:04Oh, in close second, Councillor Kerron.

4:33:09One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

4:33:14I'm gonna call the meeting officially back to order.

4:33:16We have quorum.

4:33:18Thank you so much.

4:33:20And let me go back to my list.

4:33:21Ryan, Ryan Deska from Habitat for Humanity is here.

4:33:26Is Stan Kozak here?

4:33:29Stan, I see you.

4:33:30Thank you, you're in the wings, okay?

4:33:32So, Ryan, come on forward.

4:33:35And again, same rules apply, everybody.

4:33:37No more than 10 minutes, okay?

4:33:39So go ahead, thank you for waiting, Ryan.

4:33:41Go ahead.

4:33:41Yeah, thank you so much, Mayor Guthrie and Council, staff.

4:33:46Thanks for having us here today to delegate.

4:33:49And congratulations to all on the affordable housing strategy

4:33:54and pulling that together.

4:33:55Habitat is certainly as a not-for-profit builder

4:33:59in the community.

4:33:59We're appreciative of the leadership

4:34:01that the municipality or the city is taking rather

4:34:05on this front.

4:34:07And we are certainly eagerly exploring all avenues

4:34:14presented in the report to see how they can support

4:34:16the work that we do.

4:34:18We have been building in the community for over 30 years.

4:34:21We've built 49 units of affordable home ownership

4:34:26for families through O'Glealth and Wellington.

4:34:29And in the next couple of years, we will be more than doubling

4:34:32our production in terms of units that we're bringing online.

4:34:41So I wanted to say a few quick notes

4:34:44on the housing affordability strategy

4:34:46and leave it at that.

4:34:49Having worked in municipal and provincial government

4:34:51for some time and as a facilitator of strategic plans,

4:34:55I certainly understand the challenge that there is

4:34:57to bring those to life.

4:34:59And it's really encouraging to see some of the action-oriented

4:35:03outcomes from this plan through the CIP,

4:35:06through the demonstration project.

4:35:07All of these things are really encouraging to see.

4:35:11And it's our hope at Habitat that this plan remains

4:35:14a living document.

4:35:16And it's not one that goes on a shelf

4:35:18and is not continually reviewed.

4:35:24In that vein, I think there's a great opportunity.

4:35:27We've seen all of the amazing and impassioned speakers

4:35:31here this evening thus far with really good ideas

4:35:34across the spectrum.

4:35:36At Habitat, we've said for a long time

4:35:40that we're not a silver bullet solution

4:35:42that we can act as a facilitator for other types of housing.

4:35:45And we want to in all of our projects

4:35:48and we have a vision for what that looks like

4:35:52to really expand the scale

4:35:57and the repeatability of our projects.

4:36:00So we would encourage staff and council

4:36:03to bring us to the table to keep us part of the conversation.

4:36:07And I know everyone in the room here

4:36:09would also come forward in that vein.

4:36:15There's been some great ideas brought forward.

4:36:17The land trust model, Habitat effectively operates

4:36:20as a land trust in a lot of ways.

4:36:24We do hold a second mortgage on our properties over time.

4:36:27And so someone mentioned that,

4:36:29it's not a winning lottery ticket for someone to get a home

4:36:33where they can turn around and sell it.

4:36:34We're able to maintain it for 20 years or in perpetuity,

4:36:38we could hold that second mortgage

4:36:39and effectively act as a land trust.

4:36:41So there's some really interesting crossovers

4:36:43of different models and there's all kinds of different ways

4:36:46that we could do that.

4:36:47And I think bringing the creative energies

4:36:48of the people to the table to look at other solutions

4:36:53is an important part of this.

4:36:54I would be nice to see something in the strategy

4:36:59that creates a process or a structure for that.

4:37:04But when we look at the construction of housing,

4:37:05even at the cost to build,

4:37:07most or all families still require additional supports

4:37:11or subsidies to achieve the affordability

4:37:14of ownership or rentals.

4:37:16So within our model,

4:37:17we do have that equity sharing support.

4:37:20And this allows us to ensure that payments

4:37:22are tied to household income over time.

4:37:26We wanted to point out,

4:37:28it was brought up at the last meeting,

4:37:30it was brought up again today, tax increment financing.

4:37:33It's a great idea.

4:37:34We would also be able to leverage that.

4:37:37And not to say that that's a silver bullet solution either,

4:37:41but it's an idea that came forward.

4:37:43We don't fully understand the ins and outs

4:37:45of the other delegates' models,

4:37:50but we know that with our model,

4:37:51that is one thing that we could leverage in,

4:37:56again, the array of tools that we have available to us,

4:38:02we would love to explore that.

4:38:04So I'll leave it at that.

4:38:06It's really encouraging to see the energy

4:38:09and the passion in the room and the ideas.

4:38:12And I think that everyone would agree

4:38:14that there is no silver bullet solution.

4:38:16We strongly believe in the values

4:38:19of affordable home ownership,

4:38:21for wealth building, for the security, for the family,

4:38:25and for the investment in the community

4:38:28from a workforce retention perspective

4:38:30for our major employers.

4:38:33It's incredibly important,

4:38:35but we would also stand up and advocate

4:38:37for all the other forms of housing along the continuum.

4:38:39So thank you so much for your time.

4:38:42Yeah, thank you very much, Ryan,

4:38:44and for what habitat for him and that he does.

4:38:47We always appreciate that.

4:38:49Is there any follow-up though with Ryan at all?

4:38:53Not at this time.

4:38:54Thank you again for waiting around in your presentation.

4:38:57Stan is already on his way down,

4:38:59and Mike Ashkwiy is going to be next after Mike.

4:39:05So I'm sorry, after Stan.

4:39:07So Stan, welcome and over to you.

4:39:09Great, I'll have some slides

4:39:11and how does the clicker work on this?

4:39:14The green is go.

4:39:16That's great.

4:39:17Mayor and council, as always, thank you for your work.

4:39:21And tonight, thank you for your stamina

4:39:24with the marathon agenda that you've got.

4:39:26I'll be very brief.

4:39:29About three weeks ago, Get Involved, Guelph

4:39:31put out a call to our supporters

4:39:33to identify vacant homes in their neighborhoods

4:39:37and to submit them so that we could post them

4:39:40in the gallery of vacant homes,

4:39:42which is on the getinvolvedguelph.ca website.

4:39:47All lower case, no spaces.

4:39:50So very briefly, let me just walk you through the gallery,

4:39:55and they're not all in the category of affordable housing.

4:40:02The first one here is Yorkshire South and College Avenue.

4:40:13Point of order, Mayor Guthrie.

4:40:15With your respect to the delegate and the slides,

4:40:18are we violating any privacy by showing these slides?

4:40:32I am uncomfortable about it

4:40:34from a risk management point of view,

4:40:36to be very honest with you.

4:40:38A publicly disclosing vacant homes

4:40:40in a manner like this makes me feel very uncomfortable.

4:40:45But I would prefer that you didn't appeal

4:40:53with people's properties

4:40:55and then publicly announce to the world that they're vacant.

4:40:59I just, you can understand why.

4:41:00Like there could be vandalism, other,

4:41:03I got my old insurance hat on as I say.

4:41:05It's already happening.

4:41:06And just a point of order to continue.

4:41:09I certainly do appreciate it.

4:41:10I was wondering if it would be appropriate,

4:41:12and I don't know if even this is the answer,

4:41:14for this to be emailed to Mayor and Councillors,

4:41:17then we can keep the privacy, and we already do have it.

4:41:21I didn't see it.

4:41:22I just wanted to ask the clerk's councillor all something.

4:41:23This is attached to our doctor invitation.

4:41:29So it's already public.

4:41:31So I appreciate you bringing it up.

4:41:33I didn't put it down or anything like that,

4:41:36but it's already attached publicly

4:41:38through the correspondence.

4:41:40So just maybe you could just say,

4:41:44and here's another one,

4:41:45instead of saying the actual road that it's on.

4:41:47Can we meet in the middle?

4:41:48Fair enough, whatever your most, we'll meet in the middle.

4:41:49What you're comfortable with.

4:41:51Five units, another.

4:41:59One that you've dealt with in the past.

4:42:05One in my neighborhood.

4:42:10One that's been very visible for a very long time.

4:42:18One near the, possibly near the junction, I think,

4:42:26also over in that area.

4:42:30And then in the ward, also in the ward, my neighborhood,

4:42:47and several others that have come in

4:42:50that haven't been posted yet.

4:42:53So, you know, we're promoting the idea of a vacant home tax.

4:42:59It is something that will certainly pay for itself

4:43:03and provide additional revenue.

4:43:07The province has given you the means and ways of doing that.

4:43:13And you have the experience of six or so communities.

4:43:20I would point out that Sault Ste. Marie lists all the homes

4:43:24and only lists the owners if they are corporate.

4:43:29So that is a practice that is followed out there.

4:43:34The question is, how many vacant homes do we have in Guelph?

4:43:38Toronto has a rate of 1.2%.

4:43:45If we applied that, we would have hundreds here in town.

4:43:48We probably don't have that many.

4:43:49But I can say that just from the 20 in the gallery

4:43:52that we have at present,

4:43:55that's a significant number from looking at the strategy

4:43:58tonight because you're looking at 98 a year.

4:44:03We're covering a portion of those.

4:44:06So, I would say consider moving the vacant home tax option

4:44:12up to a more higher priority.

4:44:15I think it would be very beneficial.

4:44:17As I said, it will pay for itself.

4:44:20And we could start that right away in 2025,

4:44:23even on a communication basis

4:44:25because that would probably start moving people along.

4:44:30And on that, I'll end.

4:44:31Thank you very much.

4:44:33All right, and thank you very much.

4:44:35Is there any follow-up at all?

4:44:38Okay, I just have one question.

4:44:40Do you think that there's thousands across the city at all?

4:44:43No, my personal guess is between one and 200.

4:44:47If we can include condos and the like.

4:44:51We don't, Toronto has a tremendous number of condominiums

4:44:54that could have foreign buyers.

4:44:58I don't think we have any wealth.

4:45:00But we'll see as this unfolds,

4:45:02what you saw were mostly single family.

4:45:05And my guess is they're going to be double that in town

4:45:08by the time they all roll in.

4:45:10That's a significant number.

4:45:11And those are also ones that the city can take a roll in

4:45:15of maybe linking with the land trust with owners

4:45:19and saying, hey, we've got a possible way forward here

4:45:23to feed a number of birds with one seed.

4:45:27Okay, great.

4:45:27Thank you.

4:45:29And I appreciate your presentation.

4:45:35Let's see.

4:45:36Mike, you're coming up.

4:45:37Thank you very much.

4:45:40And is Cora here?

4:45:44Cora, Patra?

4:45:47Cora, thank you.

4:45:48You're in the wings, okay.

4:45:50And Mike, thank you so much for waiting.

4:45:52And we look forward to your presentation.

4:45:54Go right ahead.

4:45:55So first off, Odesia being an estacoste macododum.

4:45:58My name is Mike, heart of the river, clam bear, ashkwee.

4:46:03I'm mostly a disability, poverty,

4:46:05and indigenous advocate here in the city.

4:46:08And I've been working with the housing affordability strategy

4:46:13for quite some time, since it pretty much came online.

4:46:16And I'm also on ODSP.

4:46:19And one thing I feel the strategy does not do,

4:46:22does not represent people like myself.

4:46:25I do not see the disabled.

4:46:27I do not see people who live in extreme poverty.

4:46:30And if I saw anything in this report,

4:46:33I will never be a homeowner.

4:46:35I will die in rental housing, and I am not okay with that.

4:46:40And I know many of you are not okay with that either.

4:46:44And when I look at this, I don't see my community represented.

4:46:49When I looked at those numbers that were presented earlier

4:46:53for what a one bedroom would cost, what a bachelor cost.

4:46:56A single person on OW makes about $390.

4:46:59On ODSP, that's 582.

4:47:02Where can we rent these apartments?

4:47:05Home ownership is completely out of a possibility for me.

4:47:10And that is demoralizing.

4:47:12When I look at my apartment that I live in right now,

4:47:15there are rooms in my apartment I've never seen.

4:47:18And that sucks, to say the very least.

4:47:22And I wonder what can be done with the affordable housing

4:47:27strategy, and it has to change.

4:47:29There has to be things that are meant for people like myself.

4:47:33Like I said, home ownership is just not gonna be it.

4:47:36But there can be things that could be done

4:47:38to help find rental properties for us,

4:47:40things that could be done.

4:47:41Like one thing I was thinking about,

4:47:43obviously this vacant home tax seems to be

4:47:45a bit of a hot topic tonight.

4:47:47That'd be cool.

4:47:49But what about something to do renovations?

4:47:52Obviously we know what happened in the city with Brandt.

4:47:55And we have a person in my building

4:47:58who had to leave his apartment to,

4:48:01so three households had to come together to support one.

4:48:05That's a problem.

4:48:05This is utterly broken.

4:48:07And I've had many people mention that we stopped

4:48:10building social housing in the 90s.

4:48:13I don't know what you can do.

4:48:14I'm not an expert like all these people.

4:48:16I don't run a knot for profit.

4:48:17I don't have the expertise that I didn't go to university

4:48:20for all this sort of thing.

4:48:21Like I'm primarily a media guy.

4:48:23You need to ask me about Star Wars?

4:48:25I'm your guy.

4:48:25Ask me about public policy?

4:48:27I've got some ideas maybe.

4:48:29But it's like, when one of the delegates came up,

4:48:34I think her name was Susan,

4:48:35and she got very, very passionate.

4:48:37I felt that too.

4:48:39And part of me, like I said,

4:48:41is holding back a lot of emotion right now

4:48:43because I know this city can do something.

4:48:47But my question is, will it?

4:48:49And there's gonna be a lot of uncomfortable decisions

4:48:52that are gonna have to be made.

4:48:54But I'm asking you to do the bold decision.

4:48:57And I'm asking you guys to be on the right side of history

4:48:59to help people like myself

4:49:01to help the disabled community find places

4:49:04where we feel safe, where we feel secure.

4:49:07One of the things that came to me about this thing was like,

4:49:12housing is not a privilege.

4:49:13Housing is a right.

4:49:15Somebody in an abusive situation should have a place to go.

4:49:19They should be able to easily find a place to rent

4:49:21if they need to get away from an abusive partner.

4:49:24Someone who has a disability

4:49:26should be easily able to find an accessible place to live,

4:49:29especially in this COVID, post-COVID world

4:49:31that we live in now.

4:49:33You're gonna see those numbers jump pretty dramatically

4:49:35in the next couple of years.

4:49:37And I think we can do something.

4:49:40I just, I hope you guys will.

4:49:41And like I said, I really,

4:49:45I want housing to be something more.

4:49:49Your house should be where you feel secure, safe, loved.

4:49:53And ultimately, I shouldn't be paying

4:49:58for a prison where I feel trapped

4:49:59because I can't get out of it.

4:50:01And I'm hoping with more affordable housing,

4:50:03I will have that choice

4:50:05to choose where I spend whatever time I have left.

4:50:08And with that, I guess that's my delegation.

4:50:11Thanks, Mike.

4:50:12Thank you very much.

4:50:14Is there any follow-up for Mike at all at this time?

4:50:18Seeing none, but thank you very much.

4:50:25We are now to Cora.

4:50:27Cora is in the wings coming down.

4:50:31And is a Tay Anton here.

4:50:37You're up, you're in the wings, okay, Tay?

4:50:42Welcome, thank you very much.

4:50:43I'll turn it over to you whenever you're ready, okay?

4:50:46Thank you, Mayor Guthrie and members of council.

4:50:49My name is Cora Pacheco

4:50:50and I'm a parent of a 26-year-old daughter

4:50:53with Down syndrome.

4:50:54I'm also a member of and here representing

4:50:57the Guelph-Wollington Family Network.

4:51:00This is a group comprised of family members

4:51:02and unpaid caregivers who support a person

4:51:05with a developmental disability.

4:51:07The network is peer-based and led by families.

4:51:10On February 5th of this year,

4:51:12Mayor Guthrie and Councillor Orr-Werck

4:51:14actually came to speak at one of our network meetings

4:51:18where families shared their stories

4:51:20and the fact that our adult sons and daughters

4:51:23face overwhelming barriers

4:51:24to accessing affordable homes in our community.

4:51:28Myself and another parent from the network

4:51:30also attended one of the engagement meetings

4:51:33for the housing affordability strategy held by the city.

4:51:36And we gave our verbal and written feedback

4:51:38relating to the need for affordable housing

4:51:40for adults with developmental disabilities

4:51:43to the staff there.

4:51:45I'm here today to bring to the council's attention

4:51:47the absolute need for people with developmental disabilities

4:51:51to be explicitly included in this housing strategy

4:51:54because the current focus on below average rentals

4:51:58and home ownership is not attainable

4:52:00for this group of people.

4:52:02In this way, they are being excluded or relegated

4:52:07to the section of low priority actions.

4:52:10Such as action 3.13, enhanced social equity and inclusion,

4:52:163.15, promote affordable and inclusive housing priorities

4:52:20or principles rather, 3.14, work with health support

4:52:24and service providers.

4:52:26As you may know, people with developmental disabilities

4:52:28live on a fixed income being ODSP benefits.

4:52:32This income does not afford people

4:52:34even the lowest cost rental in our city.

4:52:37You may have also heard in the media

4:52:39and through letters to the editor of Guelph Today

4:52:41that agencies such as Community Living Guelph Wellington

4:52:45and Hople Services are not receiving the necessary funding

4:52:48from the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services

4:52:52in order to provide housing and support services

4:52:54to this population of people.

4:52:57Recently, Community Living Guelph Wellington

4:53:00put out an information pamphlet that outlines these issues.

4:53:04And in it, they profile one individual

4:53:06with a developmental disability

4:53:07who lives with her 86 year old mother

4:53:10and has been on the housing wait list for 22 years.

4:53:14And they also stated that they on their wait list

4:53:17have more than 140 people.

4:53:21I noticed that Hopewell also submitted a letter

4:53:24to for tonight's meeting and they indicated

4:53:28they have 120 adults on their wait list.

4:53:32The only other subsidized housing option in Guelph

4:53:34is to get on the waiting list for subsidized housing

4:53:36at the County of Wellington.

4:53:38And we all know how taxed that system is.

4:53:41You cannot even apply to get the Canada Ontario housing

4:53:44benefit through the county

4:53:45if you have a developmental disability.

4:53:48I know this because I tried to do that for my daughter

4:53:50a couple of months ago and was denied.

4:53:53I know it's easy for the city to say

4:53:55that this group of people fall under the county's jurisdiction

4:53:59or under the ministries

4:54:00or under developmental services jurisdiction.

4:54:02But the sad reality is that it's all just a mirage

4:54:05from the very far off distance.

4:54:07And we're all waiting for something

4:54:09that never materializes for our adult sons and daughters.

4:54:13I'm therefore respectfully asking that council consider

4:54:16and explicitly include the needs of this group of adults.

4:54:19The issue of fairness and inclusivity

4:54:22demand that their needs be represented

4:54:24in this housing affordability strategy.

4:54:27If you deny them this, you're then excluding them

4:54:29from benefiting from this initiative.

4:54:31Even though they fall within the group of residents

4:54:34who can least afford to pay for housing and wealth.

4:54:37And this would go against the vision and goals set on

4:54:40on page four of the proposed housing affordability strategy.

4:54:44Goal number two says our community can contribute

4:54:47to diverse and inclusive housing options for everyone.

4:54:51As outlined in the letter that I submitted

4:54:54for today's meeting, I'm asking council

4:54:56to include the city's affordable housing

4:55:00to include in the city's housing affordability strategy,

4:55:04specific provisions for citizens of Guelph

4:55:06with developmental disabilities.

4:55:08Such measures can include setting aside dedicated units

4:55:13reserved for individuals with developmental disabilities,

4:55:16mandating that a percentage of units

4:55:18in all new affordable housing developments

4:55:20be reserved for people with DD,

4:55:23costing no more than 30% of the tenants income.

4:55:27Partnering with developmental services organizations

4:55:30and families that support individuals

4:55:33and focusing on housing projects that integrate people

4:55:35with developmental disabilities into the broader community

4:55:38and thereby promoting inclusion.

4:55:42I respectfully refer to the calls to action set out

4:55:45in my letter, especially to include specific targets

4:55:48and funding allocations for deeply affordable housing

4:55:51for people with DD in all upcoming housing plans

4:55:55and in this housing affordability strategy.

4:55:57And to establish a working group with representation

4:56:00from housing providers, developmental service organizations

4:56:04and individuals with lived experience to work together

4:56:06and to advocate at the provincial and federal levels

4:56:10for enhanced funding and support to meet the housing needs

4:56:13of this vulnerable population.

4:56:17I want to stress that there is a great need here.

4:56:20Aging parents and caregivers do not live forever.

4:56:23We want to work with governments, community groups

4:56:25and service agencies to come up with real solutions

4:56:29so that these adults with developmental disabilities

4:56:34have housing options they can access.

4:56:36We want to help them transition to a home of their own

4:56:39with roommates of their choosing

4:56:41before it gets to a crisis point.

4:56:43I'm asking you to be the city council

4:56:45that becomes a leader in this regard

4:56:47and the time to do it is now.

4:56:49Thank you.

4:56:51Thank you very much for your presentation.

4:56:53Is there a follow up at all at this time?

4:56:56Any questions?

4:56:58No.

4:57:00I do want to respond to what you've said,

4:57:03but it's now not the time.

4:57:05I'll do it after the questions are done,

4:57:07just because there's a few of us here

4:57:10that sit on the county joint board

4:57:14and we've talked about some of that.

4:57:15So I'll either talk about it later

4:57:17or we can get, I can maybe connect with you

4:57:20outside of this just so you know that there's

4:57:22some connection there a little bit.

4:57:23Okay.

4:57:24Thank you.

4:57:25Thank you very much again.

4:57:26We appreciate you.

4:57:27All right, Tay, you're up.

4:57:29Thank you.

4:57:29And Dominica, you're gonna finish us off.

4:57:33I see you over there.

4:57:34So get ready after Tay.

4:57:37Tay, thank you very much.

4:57:38I'll turn it over to you.

4:57:40Hello, Mr. Mayor.

4:57:41Hello, council.

4:57:42My name is Tay.

4:57:43I'm a resident of Ward five and my pronouns are they them.

4:57:46I'll begin my delegation by drawing attention

4:57:48to the relationship between housing

4:57:50and other topics brought forward in council

4:57:52since this discussion has countless touchpoints

4:57:54to other city policies and social resources.

4:57:58I particularly see many intersectionalities

4:58:01between housing conversations we're having tonight

4:58:04and the recent encampment sweeps, SES closures

4:58:06and other actions we've seen escalating

4:58:08throughout the city in the past,

4:58:11over the past several months.

4:58:13While I may discuss topics,

4:58:14some perceived to be beyond the scope of housing.

4:58:16Trust me when I say these issues are intertwined

4:58:18and I will bring these statements

4:58:20back to tonight's agenda item.

4:58:23I also asked for some grace in not knowing every intricacy

4:58:26of these nuanced and traditional council procedures

4:58:30as somebody without a history in politics,

4:58:32merely a member of your democratic community.

4:58:35I'll do my best to follow decorum

4:58:37and stick to the topic at hand.

4:58:38I hope you hold space and allow my voice in these chambers.

4:58:42It's important to listen to voices

4:58:43which may not represent a specific level of wealth,

4:58:46home ownership, perceived class or demographics.

4:58:48I would hope for all voices and opinions

4:58:51to be heard in this democratic system,

4:58:53not just yours or mine.

4:58:55I could spend the entire delegation talking

4:58:57about my personal experiences with being a tenant

4:59:00the last 13 years.

4:59:01I've constantly upheld my end of the landlord

4:59:03tenant board agreement and while the landlord

4:59:05end of that equation has repeatedly failed

4:59:08in upholding theirs.

4:59:09I spent well over six figures on rent

4:59:11and can't afford a down payment on a house.

4:59:13Yet I'm still privileged.

4:59:16And I know this is a council meeting, not a LTB hearing.

4:59:20I can set aside my personal experiences and frustrations

4:59:23because this really isn't about me.

4:59:25I'm still one of the lucky ones

4:59:27and I hope you can acknowledge the same.

4:59:29We still have a roof over our head and a life to live

4:59:32and an immense amount of privilege.

4:59:35I'm also merely a settler, a visitor to these lands.

4:59:39I'm very comfortable in saying that

4:59:40and it's something I wish my leaders would reflect on.

4:59:42It acknowledged more often in spite of their harmful

4:59:45prioritization of profit over people.

4:59:48Especially when it comes to basic necessities

4:59:50like housing the folks who live here.

4:59:53Regarding this budget plan,

4:59:55staff have addressed housing issues

4:59:56for a very specific wage gap or class of residents

4:59:59within the city.

5:00:00But for others, and I would argue a majority

5:00:02of your constituents,

5:00:04they're failing to have their needs addressed

5:00:06in these acts and policies.

5:00:08If you look at this plan through a very specific lens,

5:00:11city staff have done a fantastic job.

5:00:14They have done what's possible with direction given to them

5:00:16by their mayor and counselors.

5:00:19One might say this affordability strategy

5:00:21completely fills the mandate given to staff by council.

5:00:25A mandate which protects market affordable housing.

5:00:28But it does not fill the gap for those who are most

5:00:31in need of your support.

5:00:34For example, the renovation by-law has now been considered

5:00:38in a landscape where encampment sweeps and SES closures

5:00:41are well underway in their destruction

5:00:42of families and communities.

5:00:45These decisions in front of us have the potential

5:00:47to cause even more people to fall through the cracks

5:00:50of housing, subsequently ending up in a tent or a morgue.

5:00:56Many of the by-laws, motions and policies discussed

5:01:00in these chambers hold various forms and labels,

5:01:02but really it often comes down to the issue

5:01:04of people versus profit.

5:01:07The reason why I brought up in Cam and Sleeps

5:01:08in relation to housing is because there is an affordability

5:01:11crisis in both this town and province relating to housing,

5:01:14food and other necessary resources.

5:01:18People in our community are lacking these resources

5:01:20in shelter.

5:01:22I will also continue to discuss overdoses

5:01:24from toxic drug supply because folks who are unhoused

5:01:27often use substances and we're seeing devastating loss

5:01:30of life as a result of housing affordability

5:01:33and other crises people are faced with.

5:01:36Encampment sweeps are a housing discussion.

5:01:39Supervised consumption is a housing discussion.

5:01:42Democracy and housing policies should protect

5:01:44more than just a small percentage of the wealthy.

5:01:47A wealth that's often protected generationally

5:01:52and continues to snowball for the folks who have already

5:01:55reached a certain class safety which is protected

5:01:57by your policies.

5:01:59For others, they're stuck from this systemic shortcoming.

5:02:03They're becoming unhoused and they're even losing

5:02:05their lives at the hands of the very people who are

5:02:07trapping them through their own undemocratic feats

5:02:10of strong powers and breaches of charter rights.

5:02:14We know how quickly the public space use bylaw was passed.

5:02:18Council can make fast decisive actions giving their staff

5:02:21direction that has a profound impact on the community

5:02:24and their necessities.

5:02:26We also saw how quickly the DGBA,

5:02:28the Downtown Wealth Business Association,

5:02:30set up structures in St. George's Square

5:02:32when it was in the name of profit.

5:02:36I would ask that you consider the renovation bylaw

5:02:38be given the same priority, speed and consideration

5:02:42as these other initiatives for the livelihood

5:02:44of your constituents, not just for a holiday smore

5:02:47and a Christmas ornament.

5:02:50Without more fail safes to stop predatory landlords

5:02:54from taking advantage of the LTB timelines,

5:02:57more people will end up intense.

5:03:00In spaces that will be costing us more money as a city

5:03:03to enact sweeps through the public space use bylaw.

5:03:06These actions are both undemocratic, inhumane,

5:03:10and a waste of taxpayer money.

5:03:13That money would be better spent ensuring residents

5:03:15can stay in their home now before people end up in a tent.

5:03:19Mistakes may have already happened,

5:03:21but we have another opportunity tonight

5:03:22to do the right thing.

5:03:24Council should work to reinstate policies

5:03:26which are supportive of affordable housing

5:03:28and safe consumption.

5:03:30Council should value their constituents' homes and lives,

5:03:33not just profit.

5:03:37Thank you very much for your presentation.

5:03:40Is there a follow-up at all for today?

5:03:43There is not, but again, thank you for coming.

5:03:45And Dominica, you are our last.

5:03:54Hi, Dominica, thank you for coming.

5:03:57You're bringing us home, so I'll turn it over to you.

5:03:59No pressure.

5:04:00No, yeah, no pun intended.

5:04:01Yeah.

5:04:02Hi, everyone.

5:04:03Good evening, Mayor and Council.

5:04:04Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight.

5:04:07And for your dedication to advancing

5:04:09Guelph's new housing affordability strategy.

5:04:12Though there's always space to dig in deeper,

5:04:15I do think that this is a vital step forward,

5:04:17and I appreciate all the hard work that has gone into it,

5:04:20especially from staff, and I especially want to name

5:04:22Kushla and Lucas, who have been incredible

5:04:24in supporting our community

5:04:26and trying to honor that in their work.

5:04:28You've heard me delegate on this before many times,

5:04:31so I'd like to keep it short tonight

5:04:32by focusing on two important considerations

5:04:35for the finalization of this strategy.

5:04:38And I also just want to express gratitude

5:04:41to those that have shared their lived experiences today

5:04:43and speaking specifically to those facing

5:04:45the deepest pressures in our community.

5:04:47In that vein, I think the first thing I want to speak

5:04:50about is the need to prioritize

5:04:52stopping the loss of affordable housing.

5:04:54While the strategy's focus on below-market housing

5:04:57is critical, deeply affordable housing

5:04:59is what's most urgently needed to help those facing

5:05:02the deepest housing pressures in Guelph.

5:05:05While I have great respect for the process staff

5:05:08went through and are going through

5:05:09to inform prioritization and appreciate the pressures

5:05:13faced, which are real.

5:05:14You need funding and resources prioritized

5:05:16to action a lot of this work.

5:05:18Renovictions are increasing in our community,

5:05:21even without comprehensive data to fully capture the trend.

5:05:25I know this is a priority for you.

5:05:26I've heard it from many of you.

5:05:29And I think it's important that we move forward

5:05:35in acknowledging the stories that we are already hearing.

5:05:39We're hearing about families and individuals

5:05:41being evicted with nowhere else to go.

5:05:43Affordable homes are being replaced

5:05:45by higher priced units beyond their reach.

5:05:48This is happening across Guelph.

5:05:50I know many of your words.

5:05:52And these losses compound the housing crisis

5:05:54and the city has tools to act on it.

5:05:57In regards to concerns, efforts of this nature

5:06:00will increase rents.

5:06:01I think it's important to recognize that landlords can

5:06:04and are already increasing rents.

5:06:06A rent eviction bylaw works to prevent rental increases

5:06:09by helping to ensure tenants can't be displaced unfairly.

5:06:15Without such protections, tenants are being unfairly

5:06:18evicted and replaced with higher paying renters.

5:06:21A bylaw ensures tenants have a fair chance

5:06:23to stay in their homes and that rent increases

5:06:25are regulated within the existing framework,

5:06:28protecting both renters and the integrity

5:06:30of the rental market.

5:06:32I know it's in the strategy and I know

5:06:34that it's valued and important,

5:06:36but I really urge you to elevate this to a higher priority.

5:06:39The work specifically on rent evictions

5:06:41and rental replacement policies,

5:06:43especially with an acknowledgement

5:06:45that researching the secondary rental market

5:06:48and advancing these bylaws are essential steps

5:06:51to prevent further displacement.

5:06:53Every affordable unit we lose sets us back even further.

5:06:58Secondly, and finally, as you roll out the strategy's focus

5:07:01on below market housing, I ask you to intentionally ensure

5:07:05it benefits deeply affordable housing projects.

5:07:08And you've heard from some nonprofit

5:07:09housing developers today.

5:07:11And I also wanna acknowledge that comments in this regard,

5:07:14provide support for the fact that that's

5:07:16being intentionally planned for,

5:07:18but specifically highlight that by leveraging the tools

5:07:21uniquely available to you through this strategy,

5:07:23the city can directly impact our deepest housing pressures

5:07:27and strengthen your collaboration with partners

5:07:29to make a tangible difference as you have in the past

5:07:32for supportive housing projects

5:07:33in support of ending homelessness in our community.

5:07:37This strategy has a lot of hope built into it.

5:07:40Frankly, I am very excited about it

5:07:43and I'm excited that we're having these conversations

5:07:46and that you've identified housing issues as a priority.

5:07:49I know your passion is there to meet housing issues

5:07:52across income levels in our community.

5:07:54And I just wanna make sure that to be most effective

5:07:56with this strategy that you're prioritizing stopping

5:07:59the loss of affordable housing before we lose more.

5:08:02And that you're supporting the creation of more,

5:08:05especially for those facing the deepest pressures.

5:08:07And I just wanna end on a note,

5:08:09especially having the privilege of being last

5:08:10of just expressing huge gratitude

5:08:12to the city, staff, all of you around the horseshoe

5:08:16and virtually just for your commitment to this issue

5:08:19and for creating space to discuss it further

5:08:21and just committing to action.

5:08:23So it's part of this strategy.

5:08:24It's an exciting time.

5:08:27Thank you.

5:08:29Great, thank you.

5:08:30You can finish off delegations for us anytime.

5:08:34We appreciate it.

5:08:35Is there any follow-up questions?

5:08:36Councillor Busuttil, please.

5:08:39Yes, thank you.

5:08:40And through the mayor,

5:08:41thank you very much for your delegation.

5:08:42Just so I'm sure we're on the same page

5:08:45because I'm sure we are.

5:08:46When you speak about deeply affordable,

5:08:48are you speaking about public housing

5:08:51that is permanent public in the public domain?

5:08:55Is that how you understand deeply?

5:08:57Not exclusively.

5:08:59Okay.

5:09:00So yes, definitely that would be included in that.

5:09:03When speaking about deeply affordable,

5:09:05I'm really talking about affordability rates,

5:09:07not those mandated by the province,

5:09:09which I would argue is a limitation

5:09:11that you're faced as part of this strategy

5:09:12in terms of aligning with that,

5:09:15but one that's available to people living

5:09:16with low incomes in our communities.

5:09:18And I would say that there's a number of different players

5:09:21that can create that type of housing.

5:09:23I would argue that the private sector

5:09:24is not best positioned to create it.

5:09:26So I would include nonprofit providers,

5:09:29co-op providers in also as well as public players,

5:09:32especially government,

5:09:34in creating those types of housing.

5:09:37Thank you.

5:09:39Thank you.

5:09:39Seeing nothing further.

5:09:41Thank you very much.

5:09:43Just let me confer with the clerks for a moment, okay?

5:09:54Thank you.

5:09:55We're gonna throw up a phone number on the screen,

5:09:58just in case anyone else wishes to opine on this topic.

5:10:03And is there anyone else that also in the room

5:10:07would like to speak to this issue

5:10:09before we move on to the other agenda items?

5:10:12Seeing none,

5:10:15we just three or four minutes

5:10:18to hear if somebody wants to call in.

5:10:20That number is 5198375603.

5:10:24So take a three, four minute break, okay?

5:12:55Okay, we're gonna just give the 30 second warning.

5:13:00Okay, everybody, if everyone could take their seat.

5:13:16All right, thank you.

5:13:17We did not have anyone, Dylan,

5:13:22you're wanting to speak to this item?

5:13:25You are allowed?

5:13:27Yeah, it's not up to me.

5:13:29It's the rules, you're allowed.

5:13:30So just again, just state your name

5:13:32and go ahead, the floor is yours.

5:13:36So my name's Dylan Fraser.

5:13:38Again, I'm a director with the One Point Association

5:13:40of Realtors.

5:13:41So much has been covered today

5:13:43that I'll shorten my remarks drastically

5:13:46to just say how thrilled we are with the work

5:13:50that's been done by staff to bring this forward

5:13:53and urge you as council to approve this.

5:13:57We're particularly pleased with the implementation

5:14:02of the community planning permit system as a vital step.

5:14:07Secondly, the city taking on a role in building

5:14:14affordable housing as another key step.

5:14:17Third, the reducing of fees

5:14:19for affordable housing developments

5:14:21through measures like the development charge exemptions

5:14:24and community improvement plans

5:14:26to lower financial barriers.

5:14:28And finally, developing city on land strategy.

5:14:32So again, just thank you so much for everyone's efforts

5:14:36and we urge you to move forward with all of these actions.

5:14:42Great, thank you Dylan.

5:14:43Is there any questions at all?

5:14:46Seeing none, does it matter?

5:14:47He's gone anyways?

5:14:49So no, it's all good.

5:14:50You didn't have anything.

5:14:51It's all good.

5:14:52Thank you very much.

5:14:54All right, so with that,

5:14:55I will bring the issue back into council.

5:15:00Thank you to councillor Busuttil and to Alt

5:15:03who have indicated that they'd like to put the recommendation

5:15:07on the floor right away.

5:15:08So that's great.

5:15:10Questions of staff and to keep things moving.

5:15:15If you need to do comments,

5:15:19please just do it at the same time.

5:15:21We'd like to keep moving

5:15:23because we do have other issues in front of us.

5:15:25So let's try to make sure

5:15:26that we also keep our questions concise as well.

5:15:29Bousatil and then Alt, okay?

5:15:31Thank you very much through the mayor.

5:15:33And I'm gonna start with a comment.

5:15:35I would echo a huge appreciation to the staff

5:15:38for working on the strategy.

5:15:39Lots of acknowledgement, lots of work that's gone into this.

5:15:42And I really appreciate the strategy

5:15:44that speaks to the cooling of demand

5:15:46on opposite ends of the housing continuum.

5:15:49My first question is about the housing pledge.

5:15:51I remember being a brand new councillor,

5:15:53put our hand up, yes, we're gonna do the housing pledge

5:15:56on conditions, all these conditions.

5:15:58And so my first question is,

5:15:59have those conditions been met?

5:16:05Through the mayor to council, Bousatil, no, they have not.

5:16:09Thank you.

5:16:09I just want that on the record that it hasn't been met.

5:16:12The second question is about, in the report,

5:16:15it speaks to one of the strategies of working with the county.

5:16:18If you could just clarify for me,

5:16:20and this is on the other side of the continuum,

5:16:23which is the deeply affordable permanent public housing,

5:16:27is the number of units over 10 years, 1057 in the report?

5:16:32And I think that's, I don't remember the page number.

5:16:54Through mayor to council, Bousatil, that's correct.

5:16:56It's on page 19 of the strategy,

5:16:58the deeply affordable units are 1057.

5:17:01And the, sorry, the scope of that is within 10 years?

5:17:06No, the scope of that is from 2024 to 2051.

5:17:10Thank you.

5:17:11My next question is, one of the delegates,

5:17:15the Wellington Family Network, and Mike as well,

5:17:17talked about, and in the report,

5:17:20it's around the equity deserving housing.

5:17:24And my question is, when I was reading this,

5:17:26for me, equity isn't a caboose.

5:17:28It's something that you do at the end of a process.

5:17:30Equity is a lens.

5:17:32And so my question is, can not equity be a lens

5:17:37throughout the entire strategies that you're looking at,

5:17:41instead of being a low priority?

5:17:42It goes back to the process.

5:17:44Can it be woven into our housing process?

5:17:47As it was, let's say for the project on Edinburgh Road

5:17:52where we have some that are accessible units and so on,

5:17:55is that a conversation that can be woven

5:17:59through the planning process?

5:18:05Through Mayor Garthreet, Councillor Boussatile,

5:18:08I think equity is woven through the decisions

5:18:13that have been made in terms of housing

5:18:15and how the city supports housing,

5:18:17specifically some examples would be Grace Gardens,

5:18:22as well as Shelldale Community Center.

5:18:25So I think we do use an equity lens.

5:18:28However, we just wanted to make sure that it was specific

5:18:30within the housing affordability,

5:18:33as we had heard that from our community

5:18:34as being important to have us in action.

5:18:38Thank you.

5:18:39I guess for me, seeing it as a low priority

5:18:41seems to suggest that it's at the end of a process

5:18:44and not woven all the way through.

5:18:49Through Mayor Garthreet, Councillor Boussatile.

5:18:52Again, I think as was mentioned throughout the presentation,

5:18:56is that all the priorities are important,

5:19:00but there had to be a prioritization criteria

5:19:02that was used in order to determine what could go first

5:19:07in terms of the actions that we are taking.

5:19:10So it's not that the equity deserving action

5:19:14is unimportant, it's simply that there are other things

5:19:18that are already funded and that we are already committed

5:19:20to doing within the short term

5:19:21that needed to go in advance.

5:19:24Thank you, and I appreciate that's my next question.

5:19:26I understand the priority in the lens of the half funding

5:19:30and those actions that have to be done.

5:19:33But going back to the equity,

5:19:35when we're having conversations about city-owned land,

5:19:38it's where does it go?

5:19:40My preference is the equity deserving groups

5:19:44that we hear from in the community.

5:19:47And the last comment that I have is,

5:19:51and we heard this from the delegations, 2.1.1,

5:19:55that speaks to the vacant home tax and the renovation,

5:19:59really is about retention of the housing stock

5:20:02and the price point that we have.

5:20:04And so I'm not gonna raise it now,

5:20:07but I do feel that if we're sincere about both ends

5:20:10of the continuum that we need to,

5:20:13because we have the ability more than advocacy

5:20:15to actually do something in 2.1.1

5:20:18and to move it from medium to high priority

5:20:22and put a timeline.

5:20:23And working with the mayor and staff, I appreciate this.

5:20:27Later on, I have an additional motion

5:20:29to request that we move that up in the work plan.

5:20:34Thank you so much.

5:20:36I'm gonna go to Councillor Allt.

5:20:37And I just, I meant to say this at the beginning,

5:20:39and it has no reflection, by the way,

5:20:40on anything Councillor Cousin told us said.

5:20:43But I just wanna do a reminder, this is a strategy.

5:20:49And there's like 30 things under the umbrella of strategy.

5:20:54And so we are not here tonight to try to get

5:21:00the fine details of implementation.

5:21:03The implementation and action reports

5:21:06come back to us next, like in the new year, okay?

5:21:09On many of them.

5:21:10So, our job is to kind of shift potentially,

5:21:15like Councillor Boussadil just said,

5:21:16shift things within the strategy,

5:21:19but not get into like hours of discussion

5:21:23about dotting the T's and crossing the lines

5:21:26of the action plans or implementation plans, okay?

5:21:29So, just wanted to just set that table for everyone,

5:21:32that we stay high level today,

5:21:34knowing we're gonna get deeper later,

5:21:37but we're staying at the level of strategy,

5:21:39is this strategy the right track that we're on?

5:21:43That's the question we are here to answer tonight, okay?

5:21:47Ault and then Nororoc.

5:21:49Thank you very much, Mayor Guthrie.

5:21:51Questions through you to staff.

5:21:54I appreciate the comments of Mayor Guthrie

5:21:55and the questions of Councillor Boussadil.

5:21:58And I do want to stick with the document to a fair extent,

5:22:02but also bring in some of the concerns

5:22:04of some of the delegates.

5:22:06Within the document, the terms aspirational

5:22:08and being bold have been used.

5:22:13And I'd like to add another one on,

5:22:14and that's really in some senses being real.

5:22:17And that's with no disrespect to we as a council

5:22:21or to staff or to what possibly might be proposed

5:22:25to be built in the future.

5:22:27And the first place I want to reflect is in a comparison,

5:22:30it's the city of Waterloo, which has set targets

5:22:33and has provided land reserves

5:22:35on the northeast end of the city

5:22:37and has had involved both cooperatives

5:22:39and Habitat for Humanity to develop these.

5:22:42The reason I raise this is I question whether Guelph

5:22:47has the same lands available,

5:22:50and this relates to action 1.2.2.

5:22:53Do we have that capacity?

5:22:55Do we have that large stretch of land

5:22:58that the city of Waterloo was able to put aside?

5:23:08Through the mayor to the counselor.

5:23:11Mr. Goodrum may have some things to add after I go.

5:23:15The city of Waterloo did have a large parcel of land

5:23:18that they had purchased in 1999 and been vacant

5:23:20since that time when they had,

5:23:22and it was part of an industrial block

5:23:24that did not materialize.

5:23:27We have identified an immediate parcel

5:23:30that we brought to council previously

5:23:32that we're working on an RFP to get that out, to do that.

5:23:34And we're also bringing back the land strategy

5:23:37to council as well.

5:23:38So again, that's one of the reports

5:23:40that'll be coming back in the new year

5:23:41to identify those parcels that we do have.

5:23:46So this continues to be part of the strategy.

5:23:49It's still aspirational, it's still bold,

5:23:52and we think it's realistic.

5:23:54Yes, we do.

5:23:55Okay.

5:23:56The next question is going to sound kind of odd,

5:23:58but it's really important.

5:23:59We use within the document

5:24:01the nomenclature first,

5:24:07first, second, and third priorities, I believe it is.

5:24:12I had problems with those,

5:24:14and I think the nomenclature's wrong.

5:24:15I think because I'm looking at people

5:24:17who are primarily concerned with building and engineering,

5:24:19that they work well for you.

5:24:21But when we are dealing with what Councillor Boussateel

5:24:24brought up with regards to a bylaw

5:24:28dealing with vacancies and renovictions,

5:24:31they don't work well.

5:24:33I was wondering if we could please change those

5:24:34to primary, secondary, and tertiary.

5:24:37I've talked a bit to Ms. Holmes about this,

5:24:39and I was wondering if you could comment

5:24:41on whether there's any value in this.

5:24:42I don't want people to think that the renovation bylaw

5:24:46and that the vacancy tax are not important to us.

5:24:48I think they are.

5:24:50I think they are for the responsibility of council

5:24:53and another area of our staff to be addressing,

5:24:57not our building staff.

5:24:59And through the mayor to council.

5:25:01So thanks for that.

5:25:02And yes, that was a discussion that we had

5:25:05in our information sessions.

5:25:07But as Chris has mentioned many times,

5:25:11all the actions in our strategy are very important.

5:25:16There's no possible way for us to do all of them,

5:25:19all at the same time.

5:25:20So in the presentation, you'll recall that we had items

5:25:26that we were prioritizing the basis upon which

5:25:30we were prioritizing all the actions.

5:25:32The budget was last, but what we were really trying

5:25:35to prioritize were those actions that were going to get us

5:25:38the most housing the quickest.

5:25:40And so that's why you see them in the highest bucket

5:25:45and the medium bucket and the low bucket.

5:25:46And I hear you in terms of the terminology.

5:25:50We can change that terminology,

5:25:54but all it is is a reflection of what we're measured again.

5:25:59So we are measured by the province on the number

5:26:02of units and how quickly we can bring them on board.

5:26:04And so we tried to prioritize those actions

5:26:08that we could resource and we could action quickly

5:26:10for quick wins.

5:26:11All the other items in there, they have a longer timeline,

5:26:14but they are on our plan to look at.

5:26:17And thank you for that.

5:26:18It's just that action 2.1.1 and also action 2.2.3,

5:26:23which is identified as low, which is climate resilience.

5:26:27I think I don't want anybody to have the impression

5:26:29that the city of Guelph considers climate resilience

5:26:32to be a low priority.

5:26:33That's another one that I think is sticking in my craw

5:26:37and I think for the public might be an issue as well.

5:26:40And to through the mayor to council,

5:26:42you're absolutely correct.

5:26:43It's just when we're looking again at those actions

5:26:46is what actions are going to get us the most units

5:26:48the quickest.

5:26:49And so there were some that fell down

5:26:52to a lower priority.

5:26:53I'm trying not to use my own terminology now,

5:26:55but to the tertiary level,

5:26:58so that we could take a look at those.

5:27:00And of course, the same with climate change,

5:27:02it's weaved into everything we do anyway.

5:27:03But as we start to look at through these actions,

5:27:06we are really trying just to get houses online

5:27:10as quick as we can.

5:27:11Agreed.

5:27:12And a question then to our finance staff,

5:27:15to Mr. Crowder, there's been some discussion of the TIF.

5:27:19And I don't want to have a TIF with you,

5:27:22but I was wondering if you could please outline

5:27:24why we are taking an approach to support

5:27:27for quote, affordable housing through another avenue.

5:27:39Through Mayor Guthrie to Councillor Allt.

5:27:43In the development of the CIP,

5:27:45if you recall, there were three separate programs.

5:27:48Two of them were half funded.

5:27:51The second one, I guess, was not half funded.

5:27:54It was a program that was developed to provide $25,000

5:28:01for each affordable new unit that was built.

5:28:06The concept of that program was developed

5:28:09with the concept of TIF,

5:28:12or tax increment based granting, in place.

5:28:17But what it did was it took into account

5:28:19what was heard back from the development community

5:28:23that they needed to funds upfront

5:28:25and not over a 10 year program.

5:28:27So the $25,000 from that perspective came into play

5:28:32from a perspective of what would a tax increment

5:28:34based grant program look like over 10 years

5:28:38for an affordable home ownership.

5:28:41And then back to present day value

5:28:44so that the dollars could go into the developer's pocket

5:28:48at the start to be able to fund

5:28:50that affordable housing development.

5:28:53So instead of going the TIF route,

5:28:56we went where the development community was looking for

5:29:00and that was money upfront, not over a 10 year program.

5:29:04Okay, and thank you.

5:29:06Just with regards to comments,

5:29:07I would like to thank a delegate such as Mr. Ashkoe,

5:29:11Ms. Pacheco, who have come forward and pointed out

5:29:14that this isn't enough, and I get that.

5:29:17I do support this as first steps,

5:29:20but when we are dealing with deeply affordable housing,

5:29:22it is clearly the case that the city

5:29:24and the province need to do far, far more.

5:29:27And one of the things I do believe that we can do

5:29:29along with this is advocate strongly

5:29:31to the province to ensure that there is no one left behind

5:29:34because as you have rightly said,

5:29:37regardless what your straight is,

5:29:39housing is priority number one.

5:29:44Okay, being aware of time, please,

5:29:46Councillor Roark and then Gowler,

5:29:48I'd like to try to get to the vote as quickly as possible.

5:29:52Thank you, Mayor Guthrie.

5:29:53Through you, I have a question for staff.

5:29:57This is a great plan.

5:29:59My question for you now is you've received letters

5:30:02for this meeting.

5:30:04What is the mechanism to consider those recommendations

5:30:08and the correspondence received today

5:30:09for future iterations of the Housing Affordability Plan,

5:30:13so for moving faster, for looking at refining?

5:30:17What does that look like?

5:30:19And I'm thinking specifically with respect

5:30:22to the inclusion of accessible housing

5:30:26and the offers of strategic partnerships

5:30:28with Hopewell Gulf Family, Gulf Wellington Family Network,

5:30:33especially when there's potential opportunities

5:30:35to leverage other government funding for those groups.

5:30:39So we've had some great recommendations come

5:30:41to the podium today.

5:30:44What is the way to capture that

5:30:47and to move forward when we have an opportunity?

5:30:55Through Mayor Guthrie to Councillor Roark,

5:30:59I think the benefit of having a 10-year strategy

5:31:03and an implementation and monitoring plan that we have

5:31:07is the fact that there are 50 indicators

5:31:09and the fact that one of the actions that we have

5:31:13in this strategy is to report back on a regular basis,

5:31:18generally on an annual basis in terms of how we're doing

5:31:24on the strategy and how we're measuring the success

5:31:26of the actions that we have implemented.

5:31:28So that is one way that we can make sure

5:31:31that we're being able to be nimble and flexible

5:31:34in terms of things that come up

5:31:37during the time period of the strategy.

5:31:43Okay, thank you.

5:31:46And Mayor Guthrie, I'd just like to use my comment period

5:31:49to answer in particular, Mr. Pacheco's points

5:31:53that she raised.

5:31:55So through you, I just want to let you know

5:31:58that four of us sit on the Joint Social Services

5:32:01and Land Ambulance Committee,

5:32:02which does look at the non-market side

5:32:06of the housing affordability spectrum.

5:32:08That is where we raise those issues about, you know,

5:32:12units set aside for priority for victims

5:32:14of intimate partner violence or survivors, rather.

5:32:17What is it looking like for folks

5:32:20with developmental disabilities?

5:32:22So we can raise that there.

5:32:26And also a number of us sit on the Health and Housing

5:32:30Community Planning Table of Guelph and Wellington County.

5:32:35And while I understand like some of the groups

5:32:37that are here today are, they're a nonprofit

5:32:40with an executive director and a whole organization

5:32:43and other groups are volunteers of parents

5:32:45who are kind of banding together and doing their best.

5:32:49But there will be room at that table for you.

5:32:52If you want room at that table,

5:32:54we can advocate to make room at the table.

5:32:56And we can certainly advocate for folks

5:32:58with developmental disabilities there as well.

5:33:00So there are mechanisms to do that.

5:33:03And actually I had another question for staff then.

5:33:06So I'll come back to the question for staff.

5:33:10But I did want to acknowledge

5:33:12that the Housing Affordability Fund

5:33:13is what is driving this affordable housing strategy

5:33:17and is funding the first few years of that.

5:33:20So I just want to acknowledge that funding is coming

5:33:22from the federal government.

5:33:24That is what is enabling the incentives

5:33:26that we approved a few weeks ago.

5:33:29And that it says a huge investment in our community

5:33:31and we should recognize where that is coming from.

5:33:34And at the same time, we need to continue

5:33:37to advocate to the province

5:33:39that has dismally low Ontario works rates,

5:33:43dismally low ODSP rates,

5:33:46has waived rent control on buildings

5:33:48that are occupied after 2018,

5:33:51and has waived a city's ability

5:33:53to collect development charges for housing.

5:33:56So we continue to advocate.

5:33:59I'm really pleased to see so many groups,

5:34:01including the realtors, including the business community,

5:34:05because this plan is a call to action

5:34:07for the entire community.

5:34:09Thanks.

5:34:12Thank you so much.

5:34:13Now, just before I go to,

5:34:14you said that you had another question for staff

5:34:17and I just wanted me, I caught that.

5:34:19So are you done or do you have a question?

5:34:20So I don't have a question.

5:34:21Okay, go for it.

5:34:22The question is, when the RFP comes out

5:34:26for the enboro property?

5:34:30And I'm thinking of groups that are sort of volunteer led.

5:34:33Maybe it's a couple, you know,

5:34:35how do we make sure that it's easy to find that RFP

5:34:40when there are opportunities to partner with the city?

5:34:43We've got people who are regulars

5:34:45and they are watching what's happening

5:34:47on the affordable housing fund.

5:34:50They're watching what's happening with incentives,

5:34:52et cetera.

5:34:53We had new delegates tonight.

5:34:55Folks we've never seen before.

5:34:56How do we make sure they understand

5:34:58that these programs are open for them as well?

5:35:05Through Merigat, three, two, Councillor O'Rourke.

5:35:07Yeah, we, first, we will always have it online

5:35:10on our city website, but yes,

5:35:12we can also take the steps to share with anyone

5:35:15who signed up today to be a delegate, the RFP,

5:35:17as well as share with, if it's interested,

5:35:20our network of emails that we also had

5:35:22for the affordable housing strategy

5:35:24throughout the entire process.

5:35:30Thank you.

5:35:31So last I have on my list is Coller,

5:35:32and then I know Councillor Busuttil

5:35:34then has that extra motion.

5:35:38She and Councillor Caton would like to table.

5:35:41So I'll go to you Coller.

5:35:43Thank you, through your worship to staff.

5:35:46First of all, thank you for this work.

5:35:48I did attend a couple of the engagement sessions

5:35:51and I saw how many people participated

5:35:54and provided feedback.

5:35:55And it was great to hear from many of the delegates,

5:35:58and I think that the feedback was reflected

5:36:01in this strategy.

5:36:01I really appreciate that.

5:36:04And I know that if it made it into the strategy,

5:36:07it is a priority for us.

5:36:08So I understand that the naming of high, medium, low

5:36:11is not meant to reflect that things are not low priority.

5:36:15So, but we can't do everything at once.

5:36:18We can't do everything in the next three months.

5:36:21It is a 10 year plan.

5:36:23So I would like to ask, in terms of the timeline

5:36:27for the revision of the plan, the question was asked,

5:36:32but I didn't quite understand the answer.

5:36:36At what point will we actually see an update on this

5:36:40to say it's been a year and now we're coming back.

5:36:44So I just want to make sure, will the reports

5:36:46that come semi-annually actually give us feedback

5:36:49on changes that are being proposed to the strategy?

5:36:54Through you, Marigha, through you to Councillor Goller.

5:36:56Yes, those annual reports back on the,

5:37:00how the strategy is going can include those.

5:37:02Okay, perfect.

5:37:03And will there be opportunity for acknowledging

5:37:07that we are exploring whether the city will get

5:37:09into the work of building housing or maybe not.

5:37:13But if we do, to meet these goals,

5:37:16we still need to rely on the wider community of developers,

5:37:20nonprofit and co-developers and other developers.

5:37:25How will their input be considered as part

5:37:29of those reports back to us to know which are,

5:37:34how this is working with them once things start to roll out?

5:37:41Through you, Marigha, through you to Councillor Goller.

5:37:42I think once we start to get going

5:37:44on the individual actions,

5:37:45each will have its own work plan essentially,

5:37:48and we will consult with developers

5:37:53through each of the actions as well,

5:37:54so in order to gain their feedback.

5:37:57Okay, I appreciate hearing that.

5:37:59Thank you so much.

5:38:00My last question through your worship,

5:38:03three of the delegates today mentioned the tax

5:38:08incremental financing and the,

5:38:11as something that they were interested in.

5:38:14And Mr. Crowder, you responded to Councillor Allt

5:38:18when he asked this question.

5:38:20So I know that staff have looked at this

5:38:23and there was a decision made

5:38:25on November 13th we asked for feasibility

5:38:29so that we could fully understand on paper

5:38:32what the difference is in between what we're offering

5:38:36and what is being asked for with the TIF

5:38:39and the deferral of application fees

5:38:41and Council gave direction for feasibility to come back.

5:38:44Is there a timeline that we can expect

5:38:47that the feasibility of those to come back to us?

5:38:52Through Mayor Guthrie to Councillor Goller.

5:38:58With the current workload that we have in place,

5:39:01we expect from a strategy perspective

5:39:04something to come back in Q1 or possibly Q2.

5:39:10Okay, I appreciate that.

5:39:12Thank you so much.

5:39:14And I will be looking for that information

5:39:15then to come back so that I can better understand

5:39:18given that we included some things in the CIP,

5:39:22we included some things in the affordable housing strategy.

5:39:25I want to see how these are the things

5:39:27that a few of our nonprofit developers are asking for,

5:39:31how they would fit into those, appreciate it.

5:39:34Thank you, Worship.

5:39:38Thank you.

5:39:38Let's move to Councillor Pousatil

5:39:43and Councillor Caton's motion and maybe you could,

5:39:46it's tabled, I know the two of you wanna move in second it.

5:39:49So maybe you could just quickly speak to it.

5:39:52I sent it to the clerks, yes.

5:39:53There it is, thank you.

5:39:55So I'm gonna read it first,

5:39:56that the 2024 housing affordability strategy

5:40:00be amended to prioritize the protection of affordable housing

5:40:03by moving action 2.1.1 into the high priority actions.

5:40:09And that staff report back on this action

5:40:12with a recommended approach and implementation schedule

5:40:16through the semiannual housing update in March 2025.

5:40:20And that's seconded by Councillor Caton.

5:40:23And I just wanna thank the staff

5:40:25and also the mayor for facilitating this conversation

5:40:29through our information sessions and this motion.

5:40:32I do hope that my colleagues will support this

5:40:35because as we heard from the delegation,

5:40:37this is about retaining what we have.

5:40:40And if this housing affordability strategy

5:40:43is about the continuum, while we're working at this end

5:40:46and we're losing here, it's one step forward,

5:40:50five steps back kind of thing.

5:40:51So I really appreciate the support of staff and the mayor

5:40:55and we'll just pass it on back to the mayor.

5:40:59Great, thank you.

5:41:00I think this is pretty straightforward.

5:41:02I mean, we did have a full dedicated night,

5:41:04I think in like October or November about this

5:41:06and there's been sort of unity around this issue.

5:41:10Staff are looking to report back.

5:41:11It's a pretty straightforward one.

5:41:12So I'm gonna call the vote.

5:41:14Is anyone against that motion?

5:41:18Okay, so that's unanimous, that's great.

5:41:21So I'd like to now just get to the main motion

5:41:24which would be as amended,

5:41:27just because we have to amend what we just passed.

5:41:30Is there anything further before I could call the vote

5:41:32on everything to wrap this item up?

5:41:35No, okay, oh, Councillor Billings, go right ahead.

5:41:40Are you Mr. Mayor to stop?

5:41:42Under the financial implications, it's incomplete

5:41:46because there's no inflation or construction price index

5:41:50or anything like that,

5:41:51which actually adds quite a bit to the amount.

5:41:55So I was just wondering, in the future reports that come back,

5:41:59will we be keeping track of what's spent

5:42:01and get those future projections

5:42:04with more accurate analysis,

5:42:07including either inflation or the construction price index?

5:42:16Through Mayor Guthrie to Councillor Billings.

5:42:20The great thing about talking about $2004

5:42:24is we know what $2004 means.

5:42:27If we add in inflation, construction price indexing

5:42:34and forecasting out to 2051,

5:42:38that number can inflate drastically

5:42:41and provide things that are probably out of context

5:42:45for our understanding in today's environment.

5:42:47And that's why we've provided those in $2024.

5:42:55So the answer to my question is no then.

5:43:02Unless directed correct.

5:43:08Okay, I'll take this off on that.

5:43:09Okay, okay, thank you.

5:43:13All right, well, I'm gonna say just one very quick statement

5:43:16that I'm gonna call the vote from a commenting perspective.

5:43:21What I found to be very interesting

5:43:23is that there is unity around everything,

5:43:25all the engagement and the framework

5:43:27and the work of staff and what was in front of us today.

5:43:31There's unity around that for sure.

5:43:35What I find interesting is that,

5:43:37and I'm not upset about this one bit just to preface this,

5:43:41is that what we hear about the most,

5:43:44including some of the delegations,

5:43:45in fact, most of the delegations tonight,

5:43:48is somewhat not related to what was actually in front of us,

5:43:52which speaks to the devastating housing issues

5:43:58that are so prevalent in the community.

5:44:00In other words, what I'm saying is I don't blame

5:44:02all those people for writing letters or emails

5:44:05or delegating because it is the front of mind for people

5:44:11that they're looking for any chance

5:44:15to actually delegate and speak up on these issues,

5:44:17even if it might not fully appropriately align,

5:44:20it's such a terrible situation that people are going through

5:44:25that I don't blame them.

5:44:26I don't blame them for taking the chance to do that

5:44:29because those areas where even this report

5:44:32doesn't directly speak to it,

5:44:34where yes, it probably would be much better suited

5:44:38in the county as an example,

5:44:39as our consolidated service manager,

5:44:41and we all get that,

5:44:43it's so important for the community to come in here

5:44:47and say, hey, we just don't want you to ignore this,

5:44:50and we're not, we're completely not.

5:44:52There's a role for us either in partnership and investing

5:44:57in advocating, we heard that big time tonight,

5:45:00in advocating as well.

5:45:02And I know on behalf of council,

5:45:04I can say that we are doing that,

5:45:06including our intergovernmental staff and other staff here,

5:45:09it's both an administrative and a political push

5:45:12on all of those issues,

5:45:14but it really does go just to the heart of the matter

5:45:16of the dire, dire need of some of these housing types

5:45:22that are so desperately needed in our community.

5:45:25So I just wanted to just acknowledge that

5:45:27and just say that, hey, you know what, we hear you.

5:45:31We really, truly, authentically do.

5:45:34Okay, so with that, thank you very much for everyone

5:45:37being a part of this,

5:45:38and I do look forward to seeing results that come from this.

5:45:42That is the main thing I wanna see too.

5:45:44With that, I'll call the vote, is anyone against?

5:45:48That's unanimous, that's great, we're gonna move on.

5:45:51Thank you very much, everybody.

5:45:52Our next presentation is going to be

5:45:54on the Downtown Heights study.