Connect with us

Uncategorized

Fewer Ontario cities will hit housing targets amidst ‘major crisis’: minister

Published

on


Ontario’s housing minister is conceding that the number of new homes in the province is stuttering and his government won’t be able to hand out incentive rewards to many cities for hitting their targets, but says he hopes new legislation will help.

On Friday, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Rob Flack accepted that the number of new homes in Ontario was lagging far behind the targets the province set itself, calling the situation “a major crisis” across Canada.

“I can tell you, housing starts are down, we know that,” Flack said at a news conference in Toronto.

The Ford government has set itself a target of 1.5 million new homes by 2031, winning a large majority in the 2022 provincial election under the promise.

To meet that target, Ontario needed to see an average of 150,000 new housing starts every year for the decade.

Story continues below advertisement

The province has yet to get close to that number — and created a funding pot and targets for cities to try and reach the goal. A chunk of $1.2 billion was set aside over three years to be handed out to cities, ranked by their success in building new homes.

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Get daily National news

Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Last year, Premier Doug Ford and his then-housing minister toured the province, presenting giant cheques to cities that had achieved their 2023 housing goals. That year, Ontario achieved its lower goal of 110,000 homes by adding 10,000 long-term care beds and 10,000 basement or backyard units to the statistics.


Flack indicated that this year, even with beds and basements thrown in, the province wouldn’t hit its goal.

“We’re going to hand out some nice building faster cheques — not as many and not for as much this year as we did last year,” Flack said. “That’s why we came up with Bill 17 to build the conditions to build more homes, faster.”

Data from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation shows housing starts are currently down roughly 35 per cent year-over-year.

Bill 17 is Flack’s first major piece of housing legislation since becoming the minister in March. Among other changes, it takes aim at development charges, looking to standardize the fees homebuilders pay to municipalities and delay when they have to be handed over, in some cases.

Story continues below advertisement

Major parts of the legislation were agreed to by a major municipal association and a group representing homebuilders.

Flack said he believed the legislation could begin to move the needle. He has said the goal of 1.5 million homes remains his target.

“We know the numbers are down, but if we don’t make the changes like we did in Bill 17, we’re never going to hit our targets,” he said.

The minister also promised to release months-delayed housing data, which will show which cities have hit their targets and how many long-term care beds have been added to boost the headline figure.

&copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.





Source link

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Uncategorized

4 arrested outside Doug Ford’s home accused of planning to steal his vehicle

Published

on

By


Officers in Toronto have arrested four people, including a 16-year-old boy, after police allege they were found planning to steal a vehicle from Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s driveway early Tuesday morning.

Around 12:30 a.m., police said officers saw people in a vehicle wearing masks and slowing down as it approached a driveway in the area of Lawrence Avenue West and Royal York Road, the area where Ford lives.

A spokesperson for Toronto police confirmed that the incident was believed to be targeting Ford’s home address.

Police said they initiated a vehicle stop and one of the suspects got out of the car to run. Inside the car, they said they found a key reprogramming device and a programmable master key.

For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.

Get breaking National news

For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.

Police said suspects were arrested in the vehicle, and another was caught soon after. Two were 23-year-old men from Toronto, another was 17, and the fourth was a 16-year-old, according to police.

Story continues below advertisement

All were charged with auto theft-related offences. Each faces a charge of possessing an electronic device for motor vehicle theft and unlawfully possessing an automobile master key, while one was also charged with failure to comply with an undertaking and resisting arrest.

Ford raised the story unprompted at an unrelated news event on Tuesday, describing a high-octane chase as the suspects came “racing” down the street.

“You want to hear about stupid criminals?” Ford said. “So four thugs come racing down my street, masks on, ready to take the car out of the driveway. Surprise, surprise, at 12:30, the two police cars are there, the chase is on.”

Ford said the interaction reinforced his view that Ontario is “turning into a lawless society” and the justice system needs to be reformed with harsher sentences for auto thefts and carjackings.

The premier is provided protection by the OPP, with Toronto police officers also stationed at his address.

“Just imagine all the unfortunate people that don’t have security at their house,” he said.

“That’s my rant, I’m sick and tired of the weak justice system that we have. They have to get a backbone, and we need to start throwing these people in jail.”


&copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.





Source link

Continue Reading

Uncategorized

‘Why waste time?’ Trump says he won’t call Walz after deadly shootings

Published

on

By


U.S. President Donald Trump says he won’t be speaking with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz following the targeted shootings of two state officials because it would “waste time.”

One of the lawmakers and her husband were killed in the attacks.

Trump told reporters on Tuesday, while aboard Air Force One after leaving the G7 summit in Alberta early, that he would not be calling Walz because the Minnesota governor is “slick” and “whacked out.”

“I’m not calling him,” he added.

Story continues below advertisement

Trump denied claims — which he blamed on French President Emmanuel Macron — that he left because of heightened tensions between Iran and Israel.

“Publicity seeking President Emmanuel Macron, of France, mistakenly said that I left the G7 Summit, in Canada, to go back to D.C. to work on a ‘cease fire’ between Israel and Iran. Wrong! He has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a Cease Fire. Much bigger than that. Whether purposely or not, Emmanuel always gets it wrong. Stay Tuned!” he wrote on Truth Social early Tuesday morning.

It is customary for presidents to speak with elected officials to offer support in times of hardship.

“The guy doesn’t have a clue. He’s a mess. So, you know, I could be nice and call him, but why waste time?” Trump said of Walz.

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Get daily National news

Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Over the weekend, Ontario Premier Doug Ford sent well wishes to the Minnesota governor, saying, “All of Ontario is thinking of the Hortman family and our friends in Minnesota,” for which Walz expressed his gratitude.

Story continues below advertisement

“My thanks to Premier Doug Ford of Ontario, who called to express his condolences to the Hortman family and the people of Minnesota. In times of tragedy, I’m heartened when people of different views and even different nations can rally together around our shared humanity,” he wrote on X on Monday.

Former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were shot dead in their Brooklyn Park home early Saturday.

Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were injured at their Champlin home, about 15 kilometres away.


Bullet holes mark the front door of the house of Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, who were shot earlier in the day, Saturday, June 14, 2025, in Champlin, Minn.


Bruce Kluckhohn / The Associated Press

Vance Boelter, 57, is accused of impersonating a police officer while carrying out the attack, which he carefully planned during several surveillance operations.

Story continues below advertisement

Boelter surrendered to police on Sunday after he was apprehended in a wooded area near his home following a two-day manhunt.


This booking photo provided by the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office shows Vance Boelter in Green Isle, Minn., on June 16, 2025.


Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office via AP

Acting U.S. attorney Joseph Thompson told reporters on Monday that Boelter took meticulous notes on the homes and people he was targeting in the lead-up to the fatal shootings.

Police recovered a list of 70 names from inside the fake police car that was left at the crime scene outside the Hortmans’ home, officials said Sunday.

The writings and list of names included prominent state and federal lawmakers and community leaders, along with abortion rights advocates, and information about health-care facilities, according to the officials.

Walz was the vice-presidential running mate for 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, who lost her bid for the presidency to Trump. During the campaign, Walz often branded Trump and other Republican politicians as “just weird.”

Story continues below advertisement

— With files from The Associated Press and Global News’ Michelle Butterfield.


&copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.





Source link

Continue Reading

Uncategorized

DVP reopens, eastbound Gardiner Expressway closed after alleged carjacking, police pursuit

Published

on

By


Toronto Police say the eastbound Gardiner Expressway is still closed on Tuesday morning after an alleged carjacking and police pursuit that saw one suspect jump from the expressway.

However, as of 7:30 a.m., police said the southbound DVP has reopened and the westbound Gardiner Expressway has also reopened.

The closure stems from an armed carjacking that occurred at around 11 p.m. Monday at the Shops at Don Mills, police said. The suspects then fled the scene and were pursued by officers south on the DVP.

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Get daily National news

Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Police said the suspect vehicle stopped and the suspect got out and fled on foot, jumping off the Gardiner Expressway and falling onto Lake Shore Boulevard East below near Parliament Street.

Paramedics told Global News they took one person to hospital with serious, but non-life-threatening injuries.

Story continues below advertisement

Other suspects are believed to have fled in another vehicle, investigators said.

The Special Investigations Unit has been called in to investigate. The SIU is Ontario’s police watchdog and investigates incidents involving police and civilians who are seriously injured.

The southbound DVP and the Gardiner Expressway was closed overnight for several hours for the investigation.


&copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.





Source link

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2025 | Port Credit Today