Published plans and annual reports 2023–2024: Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing

Ministry overview

Ministry vision

Working with local governments and partners across Ontario to build safe, strong and sustainable urban and rural communities with dynamic local economies, a high quality of life for residents, and homes that meet people’s diverse needs.

To build a strong Ontario, the ministry is leading initiatives to support economic growth, get key infrastructure projects built faster, attract more jobs and investment, and help businesses, families and workers. The ministry is:

• Delivering on the government’s commitment to advancing Ontario’s Housing Supply Action Plan every year and getting 1.5 million homes built by 2031. This is measured by counting the cumulative total number of homes that have completed construction in Ontario between 2022 and 2031. As of the 2022 calendar year, nearly 74,000 homes were completed, which is about 5% of the province’s long-term goal, and over 10% higher than the average number of housing completions over the past 30 years. Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants is the latest in a series of steps taken by the province to make life easier for renters, help homebuyers and streamline policies to build more housing.
• Integrating the Provincial Policy Statement and A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe into a single Provincial Planning Statement. This would simplify existing policies and refocus them on achieving housing outcomes while giving large and fast-growing municipalities the tools they need to help deliver housing.
• Implementing policy changes and other measures under existing legislation and previous action plans — More Homes for Everyone and More Homes Built Faster — to build more homes quickly and put home ownership within reach for more Ontarians.
• Implementing strong mayor powers in select municipalities to provide these mayors with an additional tool to move forward on shared provincial-municipal priorities, such as building new homes and supporting infrastructure.
• Solidifying Ontario’s commitment to keeping municipalities whole regarding the More Homes Built Faster Act’s potential impact on their ability to fund Housing Enabling Infrastructure. That is why the province is committed to conducting a third-party audit of select municipalities to get a factual understanding of their finances, including their reserve funds and development charge administration. Helping municipalities become more efficient, and unlock housing supply by streamlining, digitizing, and modernizing local development approvals processes through the Municipal Modernization Program and the Streamline Development Approval Fund.
• Implementing changes to Ontario’s Building Code that will help unlock housing supply and address a labour shortage in the building sector to accelerate construction activity.
• Developing the next edition of Ontario’s Building Code to enhance the alignment with the National Construction Codes and further reduce trade barriers, without compromising the province’s high standards.
• Modernizing the delivery of Building Code services, developing technical and guidance materials to support consistent implementation of Ontario’s Building Code, and consulting the sector on potential improvements to support implementation and enforcement of the code.
• Continuing to provide technical support and guidance to municipalities to support municipal implementation of any policy statements under the Planning Act, such as the Provincial Policy Statement, 2020, and changes to the Planning Act.
• Leveraging Minister’s Zoning Orders and Community Infrastructure and Housing Accelerator Orders to deliver priority infrastructure projects, such as attainable and affordable housing, transit-oriented communities and long-term care homes.
• Working across ministries on how to accelerate industrial and manufacturing development approvals and permitting to support economic growth, attract investment and create jobs
• Delivering the Disaster Recovery Assistance for Ontarians and Municipal Disaster Recovery Assistance programs to help people and municipalities recover after a natural disaster.
• Reviewing the results of the ‘Build Back Better’ pilot project which incented eligible municipalities to improve infrastructure damaged in a natural disaster, so it is more resilient to future extreme weather.
• Completing administration of the National Disaster Mitigation Program in Ontario which provides municipalities, conservation authorities and others with access to federal funding for flood mapping and mitigation projects to help reduce Ontario’s flood risk.
• Supporting development of a new low-cost national flood insurance program and national action plan on relocation to protect homeowners at high risk of flooding by engaging in federal/provincial/territorial discussions.

The ministry is also leading initiatives that help care for people, including our most vulnerable. The ministry is:

• Continuing to work with sector partners on full implementation of regulatory changes to Ontario’s Community Housing Renewal Strategy by July 1, 2023. The province has also invested nearly $4.4 billion over the past three years to grow and enhance community and supportive housing, respond to COVID‑19, and to address homelessness for vulnerable Ontarians. This investment includes over $1.2 billion to service managers and Indigenous program administrators through the Social Services Relief Fund to improve housing and homeless shelter solutions and support Ontario’s most vulnerable.
• Delivering the Homelessness Prevention Program to help more people experiencing or at risk of homelessness find housing, services and supports. Ontario is increasing its investment in the program by $190.5 million annually beginning in 2023–24, while implementing a revised funding model that better reflects local homelessness and supportive housing needs.
• Continuing delivery of the Indigenous Supportive Housing Program (ISHP) through an increased investment of $11.5 million annually beginning in 2023–24. The ISHP is specifically designed to be administered by Indigenous organizations and helps Indigenous people experiencing homelessness to access housing assistance and supports to become stably housed.
• Providing funding under National Housing Strategy Second Action Plan to ensure municipal service managers and Indigenous Program Administrators have certainty and stability in funding for their housing and homelessness services. The province continues to advocate for municipalities to receive their fair share of funding from the federal government, which is underfunding Ontario by approximately $480 million under the National Housing Strategy and Reaching Home program.
• Collaborating with the Ministries of Children, Community and Social Services and Health through the Multi-Ministry Supportive Housing Initiative to improve Ontario’s supportive housing system.

Mandate

The goals of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing are to provide leadership to help ensure communities are served by strong, efficient local governments and that all people in Ontario have access to housing that meets their needs. To achieve these goals, the ministry:

• Ensures that appropriate land-use planning policies are in place to support growth throughout the province, increase housing supply and respond to market needs, while recognizing that one size does not fit all.
• Develops, implements and administers policies and programs that support community, supportive, and market housing supply, which includes residential and commercial tenancy regulation, community housing regulation and homelessness prevention programs.
• Develops, coordinates and implements Ontario government policies and programs that support municipalities.
• Leads the provincial-municipal relationship with municipal stakeholders including the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and the City of Toronto as well as provincial-business relationships with key growth partners.
• Supports Ontario’s federal-provincial-municipal relationships.

The ministry also develops and administers policies and programs in support of municipal administration, governance, and finance; infrastructure improvement; municipal and provincial land use planning; growth management; building regulation; and disaster recovery and mitigation.

Ministry programs

The ministry is responsible for the following programs:

Housing supply action plan and market housing

Ontario’s work in the market housing sector is to develop policies, programs and initiatives to promote a healthy housing market and support the Housing Supply Action Plan (HSAP), the province’s long-term strategy to build 1.5 million homes by 2031. This strategy aims to make housing more affordable by creating more housing supply.

Actions under the Housing Supply Action Plan since 2019 include:

• Reducing government fees and addressing development approval delays that slow housing construction and increase costs.
• Collaborating with municipal and federal governments, the private sector, and not-for-profits to remove barriers so that housing development can be accelerated.
• Enhancing protections for renters and homebuyers.

Addressing the housing crisis is a long-term strategy that requires long-term commitment to drive change. That is why Ontario has committed to advancing its housing supply action plan every year for four years (2022/23 to 2025/26) to help build more homes and make life more affordable.

In addition to HSAP, Ontario develops policies, programs and initiatives to support the availability of a wide mix of market rental and ownership housing, including:

• Development of evidence-based market housing policies and programs.
• Incorporation of housing outcomes into the disposition of surplus lands.
• Stakeholder engagement and strategic communications related to market rental and home ownership.

Residential tenancies

The ministry also sets the legislative and policy framework for both residential and commercial landlords and tenants through the:

• Residential Tenancies Act (RTA), which governs rental housing in Ontario and sets rules in areas such as rent, security of tenure and the adjudication of disputes. This includes supporting the ministry’s provision of investigation and enforcement services for alleged offences under the RTA through the Rental Housing Enforcement Unit.
• Commercial Tenancies Act (CTA), which sets out rules for commercial tenancies to enable businesses to operate effectively.

In 2023–24, the ministry plans to undertake the following key activities in the Housing Supply Action Plan and Market Housing program:

• Continue to advance the Housing Supply Action Plan every year to help address new challenges, meet unique needs, and adapt to current environments and future outlooks.
• Provide administrative services and support to the Housing Supply Action Plan Implementation Team, which will advise on annual Action Plan implementation and evaluation of progress.
• Continue the success from past provincial land sales and leases for affordable housing outcomes by developing in collaboration with partner ministries, other stakeholders and Infrastructure Ontario a new attainable housing program to help more people in Ontario realize their dream of home ownership, including on surplus provincial lands.
• Provide leadership, work with other ministries and participate in with key government and housing stakeholders to conduct housing market research and analysis, represent Ontario in federal/provincial/territorial tables, and develop evidence-based market housing policies and programs.
• Continue to work across government to implement initiatives announced under Housing Supply Action Plans released to date, comprising over 100 actions impacting 23 ministries, to reduce barriers to the creation of more housing supply and enhance protections for renters and homebuyers.

Community housing

This program includes both social and affordable housing that is owned and operated primarily by non-profit housing corporations, housing co-operatives and municipal governments or district social services administration boards. These providers offer subsidized or low-end-of market rents. Approximately 239,000 households live in community housing. This includes approximately 185,000 households^{footnote 1[1]} that rely on deeply subsidized rental housing to maintain housing stability (social housing that provides rent-geared-to-income [RGI] assistance) as well as approximately 53,000 households^{footnote 2[2]} that live in affordable rental housing.

The ministry’s Community Housing Renewal Strategy outlines a provincial plan to work with partners to stabilize and grow the community housing sector. Investments through the National Housing Strategy (NHS) are a key element of the Community Housing Renewal Strategy. The NHS bilateral agreement between Ontario and the federal government provides more than $5.95 billion over nine years to protect, renew and expand community housing; support Ontario’s priorities related to housing repair, construction and affordability; and deliver direct affordability support to Ontarians who need housing.

Community Housing initiatives provide operating and capital funding to service managers and Indigenous Program Administrators and include payments to service managers under the Canada-Ontario Social Housing Agreement (SHA), and payments to service managers and Indigenous Program Administrators under the NHS programs. This program also provides funding through the Indigenous and wing Initiative which includes the Rural and Urban Indigenous Housing Program (RUIHP), and provincial affordability payments under the Affordable Housing Program Agreement.

The SHA provides federal funding to replace the prior federal share of social housing costs that the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) would have incurred for federal/provincial agreements and federal unilateral projects as listed in the SHA. Between 2018–19 and 2027–28, federal funding decreases as projects’ mortgages/debentures mature or original operating agreements expire under the SHA, thereby resulting in a scheduled annual decline in federal funding. The Canada-Ontario Community Housing Initiative (COCHI), one of the programs under the NHS, aims to protect affordability for households in social housing, to support the repair and renewal of existing social housing supply, and to expand the supply of community housing over time. COCHI funding is used as a top up to SHA funding to maintain 2018–19 federal funding levels for social housing; as SHA funding declines each year, COCHI funding increases.

In 2023–24, the ministry plans to undertake the following key activities in the Community Housing program:

• Continue to support the implementation of the new community housing framework that was announced by the government on March 30, 2022. The new framework will stabilize the community housing system for those who live and work in it by:
  • Encouraging housing providers to remain in the system by signing service agreements. This will protect critical community housing supply and encourage housing providers to continue to offer deeply affordable rents for tens of thousands of Ontario households.
  • Requiring service managers to set local income and asset limits and continuing to prioritize survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking for rent-geared-to-income assistance.
  • Improving efficiency and updating accountability rules to encourage new programs that meet local housing needs.
  • As of January 1, 2023, all of these changes have come into effect, with full implementation by July 1, 2023. MMAH is working with sector partners on guidance material to support implementation, including negotiation of service agreements.
• Continue work on longer-term transformational elements of community housing such as exploring outcomes-based accountability measures for community housing.
• Implement the second 3-year Action Plan (2022–23 to 2024–25) under the NHS agreement, including supporting service managers and Indigenous Program Administrators to deliver on provincially administered NHS initiatives:
  • Ontario Priorities Housing Initiative (OPHI) and the COCHI which, combined, help build, create, and renovate community housing, provide homeownership opportunities, and improve housing affordability.
  • Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit (COHB), a portable housing benefit to improve housing affordability that can be accessed by survivors of domestic violence, survivors of human trafficking, persons experiencing or at risk of homelessness, Indigenous persons, seniors, people with disabilities, youth (including those leaving the child welfare system), and households living in community housing.
    • Effective July 1, 2023, the COHB benefit calculation will be adjusted to better reflect current rental market conditions by providing a modest increase in payments to most participants.
• Work with the federal government on the program design and implementation of additional dedicated funding under COHB for survivors of gender-based violence.
• Continue to deliver other existing Community Housing programs, including:
  • Payments to service managers under the Canada-Ontario Social Housing Agreement and provincial affordability payments under the Affordable Housing Program, which will continue until 2033.
  • Payments to service managers and Indigenous Program Administrators under the Investment in Affordable Housing (IAH), IAH Extension, and Social Infrastructure Fund programs for capital projects as they progress to completion and rental assistance, which will continue until March 31, 2024.
  • Indigenous and Community Housing Initiatives including RUIHP. RUIHP supports the preservation of existing housing and the creation of new units through regular maintenance, repair, renovation and portfolio realignment to continue to help households in need through RGI and affordable housing assistance, including housing allowances.

Homelessness prevention

This program includes operating and capital funding under the Homelessness Prevention Program (HPP), Indigenous Supportive Housing Program (ISHP), and affordability payments under the legacy Home for Good program. These programs support municipal service managers and Indigenous Program Administrators to help people who are homeless and at risk of homelessness become stably housed or avoid becoming homeless in the first place.

Service managers and Indigenous Program Administrators use funding under these programs to:

• Operate, build and repair supportive and transitional housing as well as emergency shelters.
• Fund homelessness prevention services and supports such as rent supplements, emergency financial assistance and landlord outreach and mediation.
• Provide other services and supports such as providing street outreach, coordinating case management, and maintaining By-Name Lists to obtain real-time data about people experiencing homelessness in each community and their needs.

In 2023–24, the ministry plans to undertake the following key activities in the Homelessness Prevention program:

• Continue to help service managers prevent and address homelessness in their communities through the delivery of the streamlined HPP. Through the HPP, service managers have flexibility to target funding where it is needed the most, including to capital expenses, to assist those experiencing, or at risk of homelessness.
• Enhance the HPP through an ongoing increased investment of $190.5 million annually beginning in 2023–24, while implementing a revised funding model that better reflects the current need for homelessness and supportive housing in each service manager area.
• Continue to support Indigenous Program Administrators in the delivery of the ISHP. The ISHP is specifically designed to be administered by Indigenous organizations and helps Indigenous people experiencing homelessness to access housing assistance and supports to become stably housed. It includes $10 million in annual Mental Health and Addictions funding to provide Indigenous led, culturally appropriate long-term housing solutions and support services to Indigenous people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, through the Roadmap to Wellness: A Plan to Build Ontario’s Mental Health and Addictions System.
• Enhance the ISHP through an ongoing increased investment of $11.5 million annually beginning in 2023–24.
• Continue collaboration with the ministries of Children, Community and Social Services and Health through the Multi-Ministry Supportive Housing Initiative, to continue progress on the following initiatives to improve supportive housing in Ontario:
  • Developing a common pre-screening framework to help people navigate towards the right housing and supports.
  • Establishing local integrated supportive housing planning requirements to coordinate supportive housing across the housing, health and community services sectors, in order to improve collaboration and better respond to clients’ complex needs.
  • Continuing to analyze the findings from the cost avoidance review of supportive housing completed in September 2022, and key feedback received during the Associate Minister of Housing’s Supportive Housing Roundtable Sessions held in November 2022 in order to inform ongoing work moving forward to improve Ontario’s supportive housing system.

Municipal finance and governance

This program supports local governments so that local services and infrastructure are effective and have a positive impact on the day-to-day lives of the people of Ontario.

Through this program, the ministry provides a legislative, regulatory and programmatic framework to build municipal capacity. This program includes the maintenance and support of a legislative and regulatory framework to support effective municipal governance, including accountability, transparency and municipal elections. This program also enables municipal partners to create prosperous and financially sustainable communities, so they are able to invest in infrastructure and deliver services. The ministry, in collaboration with other provincial ministries, works directly with municipalities, municipal associations and other partners on initiatives that impact municipalities to ensure a strong relationship between the province and municipalities as well as to ensure the municipal perspective and impacts are understood and inform the province’s work.

In 2023–24, the ministry plans to undertake the following key activities in the Municipal Finance and Governance program:

• Continue actively engaging municipalities through the Memorandum of Understanding with the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, Toronto-Ontario Cooperation and Consultation Agreement, participating in municipal association meetings and hosting discussions and forums with Heads of Council across Ontario.
• Encourage and foster collaboration, consultation and engagement between partner ministries and the municipal sector to ensure there is a strong relationship between the province and municipalities. This includes working with and supporting ministries by identifying municipal considerations and potential impacts.
• Support the implementation of the changes to the development charges, community benefits charge and parkland dedication frameworks, which are designed to support the government’s efforts to increase housing supply.
• Continue to support good municipal governance, including the implementation of strong mayor powers in municipalities which will enable some municipalities to move forward more effectively on shared provincial-municipal priorities.
• Lead the delivery of regional assessments to assess the best mix of roles and responsibilities in select two-tier municipalities to help ensure municipalities are equipped to deliver on the government’s commitment to tackle the housing supply crisis.
• Continue to implement the Streamline Development Approval Fund to help Ontario’s 39 largest municipalities address the housing crisis by modernizing local approvals processes for new housing projects and other development applications.
• Continue to implement Intake 3 of the Municipal Modernization Program (implementation stream) to help municipalities modernize services, including streamlining development approvals.
• Continue to assess municipal capacity to manage finances and to deliver services and good governance. Identify those municipalities that require support and deliver targeted and sector-wide capacity building as required.
• Continue to gather data and local intelligence about municipal issues, challenges, and best practices to inform future provincial policy development and program design.
• Connect municipalities to partner ministry programs and tools in order to support local economic recovery and economic development.

Land use planning

Under this program, MMAH develops, monitors and administrates Ontario’s land use planning systems. The provincial land use planning framework has evolved significantly over time and is regularly subject to legislative and policy reviews to ensure that it reflects current direction for managing growth, protecting resources, and protecting public health and safety. The framework currently includes the Planning Act and includes policy statements issued under that legislation, along with other related legislation, policies and plans such as the Greenbelt Plan, the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (A Place to Grow), the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan, and the Ontario Planning and Development Act.

The land use planning system advances and upholds provincial interests through a policy-led system largely implemented by municipalities through local planning documents (for example, official plans and zoning by-laws) and through the ministry’s one-window provincial land use planning approvals service. In addition, Minister’s Zoning Orders and Community Infrastructure and Housing Accelerator Orders are used to streamline zoning approvals for priority initiatives/projects. The ministry provides a variety of mandatory and discretionary tools to support municipal implementation of the provincial land use planning framework at a local level.

In 2023–24, the ministry plans to undertake the following key activities in the Land Use Planning program:

• Continue to protect the Greenbelt for future generations through oversight of related legislation and regulations, the Greenbelt Plan, the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan and the Greenbelt Council.
• Support the Minister in the making of Minister’s Zoning Orders and Community Infrastructure and Housing Accelerator Orders for priority initiatives, such as attainable and affordable housing, transit-oriented communities and long-term care homes.
• Advance and uphold provincial interests and support municipal implementation of land use planning through a variety of legislative tools, and a coordinated inter-ministry one-window planning approach for provincial decisions. This will include ongoing work related to the review and approval of upper and single-tier municipal official plans and official plan amendments. Further, upon proclamation of relevant sections of Bill 23, the ministry would become the approval authority for lower-tier municipal official plans and official plan amendments in specified upper tiers (Durham, Halton, Niagara, Peel, Simcoe, Waterloo and York).
• Continue review of the land use development approvals process to identify and propose streamlining, including through a Lean review to identify improvements to help bring housing and business investments (for example, industrial and manufacturing) online faster.
• Continue to provide technical support and guidance to municipalities to support municipal implementation of any policy statements under the Planning Act, such as the Provincial Policy Statement, 2020, and changes to the Planning Act.
• Continue to support the development of Data Standards for Development and Planning Applications. As part of the province’s response to the housing crisis, the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery, along with partners in the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, are developing a data standard for Ontario’s land use planning and development system. The standard, featuring three components — common terminology, common municipal planning application forms, and platforms — will establish clear, uniform rules and guidance for how data is captured and used, enabling better system performance, a more consistent user experience, and greater data analysis within Ontario’s housing sector.
• Support implementation of a new Minister’s regulation that will require municipalities and planning boards in Ontario to report information on planning matters. Through this regulation, the ministry would collect information on planning matters that provides empirical evidence to support the development of housing and planning policy, provide necessary data to track the government’s commitment to build 1.5 million new homes by 2031, and enable the ministry to monitor trends and patterns over time.
• Seek input on a newly proposed provincially-drafted provincial land use planning document, which was built from the housing focussed policy review in 2022–23 and that would replace the existing Provincial Policy Statement and A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe. Consultation is proposed to be open from April 6 to June 6, 2023. The new policy document would be targeting an effective date in fall 2023. Should the government adopt the proposed policies, the government would consequentially revoke the Provincial Policy Statement, 2020 and A Place to Grow, as well as amend regulations (O. Reg. 416/05 and O. Reg. 311/06) under the Places to Grow Act, 2005.

Building regulation

This program establishes the policies, technical supports and regulatory system governing the construction, renovation, changes of use and demolition of buildings through administration of the Building Code Act and the Building Code regulation.

In 2023–24, the ministry plans to undertake the following key activities in the Building Regulation program:

• Develop the next edition of Ontario’s Building Code, which will enhance the alignment of the technical requirements with the National Construction Codes, and implement timely adoption, consistent with the commitments made in the Reconciliation Agreement under the Canadian Free Trade Agreement. The Reconciliation Agreement was signed by the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing on August 27, 2020.
• Participate in the Federal-Provincial-Territorial work to transform the National Construction Codes system to be nimbler and more responsive to provincial needs.
• Develop technical and guidance material to support consistent implementation of Ontario’s Building Code and priority areas such as housing affordability and supply.
• Identify potential improvements to accessibility standards for the National and Ontario Building Codes in response to the forthcoming recommendations from the Built Environment Standards Development Committee under the.
• Support the ongoing implementation and delivery of the government’s Housing Supply Action Plan (HSAP) by:
  • Proposing to revisit the Building Code to exempt the requirement for standpipe systems for four storey stacked townhouses. The two cases for this exemption are:
    • Combustible four storey sprinklered stacked townhouses.
    • Non-combustible four storey stacked townhouses with not more than one dwelling unit above another.
      
      These proposed changes are intended to harmonize with the National Building Code requirements for midrise (for example, between four and six storey) wood frame construction.
  • Developing proposed amendments to the Building Code Act to allow the Deputy Minister to appoint a person or entity, such as a municipal services association, as inspectors to help the Director of the Building and Development Branch in their role as Chief Building Official to enforce the Building Code Act and the Building Code in unorganized territories to provide additional options for undertaking building inspections in unorganized territories.
  • Initiating amendments to the Building Code to freeze housing development related fees at 2023 levels, including Building Practitioner registration fees, applications for Building Code Commission (BCC) rulings, and applications for Minister’s Rulings to reduce the impact of fees on the cost of housing and support housing supply and affordability.
• Establish additional optional green standards for buildings (above minimum Building Code requirements) in the Building Code so that municipalities have a clear legal pathway to adopt them if they choose, through their bylaws (July 2023).
• Continue modernizing the delivery of building regulatory services by developing service improvements through enhancing the ministry’s qualification program for building practitioners; supporting municipalities to design and administer local programs to recruit new intern building inspectors through the development of guidance materials; developing modern digital tools to facilitate registration of building practitioners in the ministry’s Qualification and Registration Tracking System (QuARTS); and examining opportunities to support Building Code compliance that will increase capacity within the sector.
• Deliver technical support on the Building Code to the building sector, the Building Code Commission, the Building Materials Evaluation Commission, and building regulatory services (including the qualification and registration of building practitioners and training provided to practitioners by the college sector).

Disaster recovery financial assistance

The program delivers disaster recovery and mitigation transfer payment programs, manages the ministry’s legislated emergency management program and represents Ontario’s interests in discussions on disaster recovery and mitigation funding with federal, provincial and territorial counterparts.

In 2023–24, the ministry plans to undertake the following key activities in the Disaster Recovery Financial Assistance program:

• Respond to emergencies/disasters and deliver the Disaster Recovery Assistance for Ontarians and Municipal Disaster Recovery Assistance programs to help people and municipalities recover after a natural disaster.
• Assess the outcomes of the ‘Build Back Better’ pilot project under the Municipal Disaster Recovery Assistance program, which provided funding to municipalities to improve infrastructure damaged in a natural disaster to be more resilient to future extreme weather and make a recommendation about the program.
• Complete the administration of the National Disaster Mitigation Program in Ontario to provide municipalities, conservation authorities and other eligible recipients access to approved federal funding for flood mapping and mitigation projects to help reduce Ontario’s flood risk.
• Provide assistance to evacuated residents for emergency expenses and additional housing costs under the Wheatley Residents Assistance Program.
• Engage with the federal government and provincial/territorial counterparts to modernize Canada’s approach to managing the financial impacts of natural disasters, including participating in a review of the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements and in discussions on implementation of low-cost flood insurance in Canada.

2023–24 Strategic plan

The ministry is delivering on an ambitious mandate that will increase housing supply, promote economic development and create jobs while protecting Ontario’s natural environment. MMAH is supporting the province’s most vulnerable through initiatives that help prevent homelessness and support longer-term housing solutions. MMAH will continue working with municipalities to ensure they have the tools and resources needed to encourage economic growth and build safe, strong and sustainable urban and rural communities.

Increasing housing supply

The ministry has made significant progress in tackling Ontario’s housing supply crisis by introducing a range of measures since 2019. In the last 2 years, housing starts in Ontario reached a level not seen in more than 30 years — and just last year, rental housing starts in the province reached an all-time high.

An increase in housing starts would indicate that conditions in Ontario’s economic and regulatory environment are supporting the development of more housing supply. In 2022, 96,080 homes started construction in Ontario — this is the second highest number of starts since 1988 and 50% higher than the annual average for the past 20 years. Additionally, 14,917 rental housing units also started construction in 2022 — the most in over 30 years.

These are positive trends, but more needs to be done to reach the goal of 1.5 million new homes by 2031. The ministry will update and adjust its housing supply action plans throughout the government’s mandate to continue to make progress toward that goal.

Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants supports increased density and building more homes in existing communities, while making sure that enough land is available for the many new homes and jobs the province needs.

The government is also proposing to integrate the Provincial Policy Statement and A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe into a single Provincial Planning Statement that would simplify existing policies and refocus them on achieving housing outcomes while giving large and fast-growing municipalities the tools they need to help deliver housing. It would ensure that appropriate planning policies are in place to support growth throughout the province and respond to market needs, while recognizing that one size does not fit all.

The ministry is also taking steps to make life easier for renters with changes that would, if passed, clarify and enhance tenants’ rights to install air conditioners and further strengthen protections against evictions due to renovations, demolitions and conversions, as well as those for landlord’s own use.

Ontario is exploring modular construction and other innovative construction options that may help to reduce the cost of building attainable housing. The ministry is also implementing changes to Ontario’s Building Code to unlock housing and address a labour shortage in the building sector to accelerate construction activity.

Preventing homelessness

Complementing the work to unlock more market housing, Ontario is making the community housing system more sustainable and efficient with a new regulatory framework under the Community Housing Renewal Strategy. Launched in March 2022, it responds to the government’s extensive consultation with the sector and strengthens Ontario’s community housing system for those who live and work in it. The ministry will continue to its work with community housing partners to implement regulations, support change management, and explore future opportunities for transformation.

The ministry also continues to help people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless find the right housing services and other supports. This includes investing an additional $190.5 million annually through the Homelessness Prevention Program (HPP), bringing Ontario’s total yearly investment in the program to nearly close to $654 million.

The government is also investing an additional $11.5 million in the Indigenous Supportive Housing Program, bringing the total annual investment to $41.5 million. These programs give local service managers flexibility to allocate funding where it is most needed, for capital projects and to make better use of existing resources to focus on delivering supports that our most vulnerable rely on every day, instead of spending time on administrative tasks and reporting.

The ministry continues to advocate for municipalities to receive their fair share of funding from the federal government, which is underfunding Ontario by approximately $480 million under the National Housing Strategy and Reaching Home program.

Strong local governments

Ontario’s 444 municipalities are key partners, and the ministry will continue to work with the sector to support recovery, economic growth, and ensure the continued delivery of important local services for Ontario’s residents and businesses. Municipalities have been clear that the province asks them for too many reports. MMAH will continue to lead government-wide efforts to reduce the municipal reporting burden and red tape.

As part of Ontario’s ongoing efforts to increase housing supply, mayors of select municipalities were provided an additional tool to deliver on shared provincial-municipal priorities, including building 1.5 million new homes by 2031. This ensures communities in the province are supported by strong, efficient decision-making that is clearly focused on the future. MMAH also committed to keeping municipalities whole regarding the More Homes Built Faster Act’s potential impact on their ability to fund Housing Enabling Infrastructure. That is why Ontario is committed to conducting a third-party audit of select municipalities to get a factual understanding of their finances, including their reserve funds and development charge administration.

MMAH is also leading province-wide growth management activities to further provincial goals, including economic development, affordable homeownership, infrastructure planning and job creation. The ministry will continue working with municipalities to ensure they have the information and tools they need to implement provincial growth management policies and programs.

Detailed financial information

Chart 1: Investment by vote 2023–24 ($)

Note: Figures exclude consolidation adjustments.

Agencies, boards and commissions (ABCs)

There are six provincial agencies that currently report to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Building Code Commission

The Building Code Commission (BCC) is an adjudicative agency that resolves disputes on the technical requirements of Ontario’s Building Code. All administrative and technical support to the BCC is provided by ministry staff. The operating expenses for this commission are paid out of the Local Government and Planning Policy (Vote 1903).

Building Materials Evaluation Commission

The Building Materials Evaluation Commission (BMEC) is a regulatory agency that evaluates and authorizes innovative construction materials, systems or building designs where no criteria are set out in Ontario’s Building Code. All administrative and technical support to the BMEC is provided by ministry staff. The operating expenses for this commission are paid out of the Local Government and Planning Policy (Vote 1903).

Greenbelt council

The Greenbelt Council is an advisory agency, established under the Greenbelt Act, and provides the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing with advice on land use planning matters within and adjacent to the area defined as the Greenbelt Area. This includes implementation of the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan, including performance measures, the 10-year review, land use planning and public education and outreach, in order to ensure the objectives of the Greenbelt Plan are met.

Toronto Islands Residential Community Trust Corporation

The Toronto Islands Residential Community Trust Corporation (the “Trust”) is a board-governed agency that manages the sale of houses and associated land leases of approximately 262 properties on provincially owned lands, and the maintenance and use of 6 community buildings for the benefit of the Toronto Islands residents and the public. The provincially owned lands are on Ward’s and Algonquin Islands (part of the Toronto Islands).

The Trust does not receive any funding from the province and is self-sustaining through revenue generated from an annual levy charged to each Island leaseholder, rental income on the community buildings and administrative fees. The Trust’s accounts are separate from those of the ministry and the province. The Trust is responsible for managing its own financial matters, including the completion of an annual financial audit. The audited financial statements are published with its annual report. The members of the Trust’s Board of Directors are not remunerated for their service to the Trust.

Housing Supply Action Plan implementation team

The Housing Supply Action Plan Implementation Team is an advisory agency established by the Minister pursuant to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing Act. The Housing Supply Action Plan Implementation Team is comprised of municipal leaders and industry experts which provides advice to the government on the implementation and evaluation of progress of Ontario’s housing supply action plans, and other issues as identified by the government.

Administrative support to the Housing Supply Action Plan Implementation Team is provided by ministry staff.

Notes:

• Appointees (members) participate on a voluntary basis and are not eligible for remuneration.
• The agency does not generate revenue or charge fees.

Provincial land and development facilitator

The Office of the Provincial Land and Development Facilitator is an advisory agency that is established under the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing Act. The Provincial Land and Development Facilitator helps the province, municipalities, developers, businesses and community groups resolve issues related to growth management, land use and infrastructure planning, and environmental protection by providing impartial facilitation services or by acting as a negotiator on behalf of the province.

All administrative and technical support to the Provincial Land and Development Facilitator is provided by ministry staff. The operating expenses for this agency are paid out of the Municipal Services (Vote 1902).

Ministry organization chart

This is a text version of an organizational chart for the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing as of April 3, 2023. The chart shows the hierarchical structure of the organization with the top level assigned to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

• Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing — Steve Clark
  • Parliamentary Assistant, Municipal Affairs and Housing — Matthew Rae
  • Associate Minister of Housing — Nina Tangri
  • List of Council, Commission and Corporations
    • Provincial Land and Development Facilitator
    • Building Code Commission
    • Building Materials Evaluation Commission
    • Toronto Islands Residential Community Trust Corporation
    • Greenbelt Council
    • Housing Supply Action Plan Implementation Team
  • Deputy Minister Kate — Manson-Smith
    • Executive Assistant — Mariam Rashidi (A)
    • Municipal Services Division — Hannah Evans, ADM
      • Municipal Services Office Central Region — Laurie Miller, Regional Director (A)
      • Municipal Services Office Central Region — Hayley Berlin, Priority Projects Director (A)
      • Municipal Services Office Western Region — Ian Kerr, Regional Director
      • Municipal Services Office Northern Region — Bridget Schulte-Hostedde, Regional Director
      • Municipal Services Office Eastern Region — Allan Scott, Regional Director
      • Municipal Programs and Analytics Branch — Helen Collins, Director (A)
    • Local Government Division — Caspar Hall, ADM
      • Municipal Finance Policy Branch — Ruchi Parkash, Director (A)
      • Intergovernmental Relations and Partnerships Branch — Laura Evangelista, Director
      • Local Government Policy Branch — Jasmine Gujral, Director
    • Business Management Division — Joanne Davies, CAO/ADM
      • Controllership and Financial Planning Branch — Amanda Lui, Director
      • Corporate Services Branch — Alyssa Cates, Director (A)
      • Human Resources Strategies Branch — Suzana Ristich, Director
      • Community Services Audit Service Team — Gord Nowlan, Director^{footnote 15[15]}
    • Market Housing Division — Joshua Paul, ADM
      • Market Housing Policy Branch — Mavis Fung, Director
      • Housing Supply Secretariat — Vacant, Director
      • Community and Supportive Housing Division — Angela Cooke, ADM
      • Community Housing Policy Branch — Michel Molgat Sereacki, Director (A)
      • Housing Programs Branch — Sebastian Franks, Director
      • Finance, Analysis and Accountability Branch — Christopher Skubel, Director (A)
    • Communications Branch — Burke Christian, Director^{footnote 16[16]}
    • Legal Services Branch — Mark Osbaldeston, Director^{footnote 17[17]}
      • Legal Services Branch (Stephen Lockwood, Deputy Director — Claire Young, Deputy Director)
    • Planning and Growth Division — Sean Fraser, ADM
      • Building and Development Branch — Mansoor Mahmood, Director
      • Planning Policy Branch — Ewa Downarowicz, Director (A)
      • Provincial Land Use Plans Branch — Anna MacDonald, Director
    • Community Services I&IT Cluster — Rocco Passero, CIO/ADM^{footnote 18[18]}
      • Strategic Planning and Business Relationship Management — Aleli Gulak, Director
      • Case and Grant Management Solutions — Sanaul Haque, Director
      • Data Collection and Decision Support Solutions — Carm Scarfo, Director
      • iACCESS Solutions — Farshad Mahlooji, Director

Appendix: 2022–23 annual report

Ministry’s achievements in 2022–23

Housing supply action plan and market housing

Over the course of the past year, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, as the provincial lead on market housing and in collaboration with partner ministries, supported the introduction of and implemented two significant sets of legislative and policy changes to advance the government’s long-term strategy to address the housing crisis and build 1.5 million homes by 2031:

• More Homes for Everyone, released on March 29, 2022, contains approximately 20 actions led by five ministries to address Ontario’s housing crisis, such as protecting homebuyers from unethical development practices and accelerating development timelines to get more homes built faster. The plan was built on recommendations from the Housing Affordability Task Force and the first-ever Ontario-Municipal Housing Summit, as well as input from municipalities and the public. The associated legislation, More Homes for Everyone Act, 2022 received Royal Assent on April 14, 2022.
• More Homes Built Faster, released on October 25, 2022, contains almost 50 actions across eight ministries, including measures to streamline planning and approvals processes to get shovels in the ground faster, allow the development of housing like triplexes or garden suites that bridge the gap between single family homes and high-rise apartments, strengthen protections for homebuyers, and reduce government fees that add thousands of dollars to the cost of a new home. In the case of non-profit development in the Greater Toronto Area, the impact of these changes is estimated to reduce the cost of building a single-family home by $116,900^{footnote 19[19]}. The More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022 received Royal Assent on November 28, 2022.

As a result of these actions, Ontario’s housing starts are continuing to trend upwards. Despite major global and national economic challenges, housing starts have hit record levels over the last two years, with just over 96,000 homes starting construction in Ontario in 2022, the second highest number of starts since 1988 and 30% higher than the annual average for the past 20 years.

The pattern of starts also indicate that an appropriate mix of residential housing is being built, with nearly 15,000 new purpose-built rental housing units starting construction in 2022, a 7.5% increase from 2021. Additionally, the number of rental households is increasing overall. There were 1.72 million rental households in Ontario according to the 2021 Census of Population, an increase of over 10.6% compared with 2016, while population increased in Ontario 5.8% during the same period.

In addition, the ministry continued work with Infrastructure Ontario and partner ministries to leverage surplus provincial lands for priority housing outcomes, such as to build more new affordable housing units. This included continuing work to transfer a surplus government site in Vaughan to a non-profit organization to support affordable housing as well as transfer a portion of a surplus site in Kingston to Homes for Heroes Foundation to develop transitional housing for homeless veterans.

Residential tenancies

For market rental housing, the ministry announced the 2023 rent increase guideline at 2.5 per cent. The guideline is based on Ontario’s Consumer Price Index (CPI), a measure of inflation calculated monthly by Statistics Canada using data that reflects economic conditions over the past year. When the CPI rises significantly the guideline is capped at 2.5 per cent to help protect tenants from significant one-time increases.

The ministry also provided ongoing public education and raised public awareness about key topics such as landlord and tenant rights and responsibilities under the RTA and the CTA, including recent amendments. This was achieved through:

• Responding to a high volume of correspondence and calls from landlords and tenants for assistance (for example, the Market Housing Policy Branch responded to over 1,395 inquiries)
• Making timely updates to websites that inform tenants and landlords about their rights and responsibilities.
• Providing information sessions and webinars upon request by stakeholders and the public.
• The Rental Housing Enforcement Unit’s focused efforts on landlord tenant rights and obligations on offences under the RTA.

Key performance indicators (KPIs)

The ministry had the following key results and achievements in 2022–23:

Housing Supply Action Plan: building 1.5 million homes by 2031

The government’s Housing Supply Action Plan is focused on building 1.5 million homes over ten years, to increase housing supply and make housing more affordable. This is measured by counting the cumulative total number of homes that have completed construction in Ontario between 2022 and 2031.

As of the 2022 calendar year, nearly 74,000 homes were completed, which is about 5% of the province’s long-term goal, and over 10% higher than the average number of housing completions over the past 30 years.^{footnote 20[20]}

Increasing residential construction activity

Housing completions are a lagging indicator since housing takes time to complete construction. To proactively monitor whether the government’s Housing Supply Action Plan is having the intended effect, the ministry monitors residential construction activity across the province.

This is primarily measured through the total number of residential housing units, including purpose-built rental housing, that start construction each year. High levels of housing starts would indicate that conditions in Ontario’s economic and regulatory environment are supporting the development of more housing supply towards the province’s 1.5 million home goal.

Graph 1: Increase in housing starts

Statement of result:

96,080 homes started construction in Ontario in 2022, the second highest number of starts since 1988 and 50% higher than the annual average for the past 20 years.

The pattern of starts also indicate that an appropriate mix of residential housing is being built. 14,917 rental housing units started construction in 2022, the most in over 30 years.^{footnote 21[21]}

Image

Access to affordable housing

The ministry had the following key results and achievements in 2022–23:

Through its programs, the ministry is making progress to improve access to affordable housing, which includes people having improved access to affordable housing and supports that meet their needs to achieve housing stability. This is measured through an increased percentage of low-income Ontario households assisted in community housing programs.

Graph 2: Percentage of low-income Ontario households assisted in community housing programs

Statement of result:

The percentage of low-income households assisted by community housing programs has increased substantially since the 2018 baseline (23.5%). The five-year target for this KPI was 25% which was exceeded in 2020–21 and maintained relatively unchanged in 2021–22.

This indicator is based on two values: the numerator is the number of households assisted across community housing programs and the denominator is the Census Family Low Income After-Tax Measure.

Image

The results presented reflect data up to 2021–22 as the data for 2022–23 are not yet available. It is anticipated that data for 2022–23 will be available in August 2023.

Community housing

New regulatory framework for community housing

In July 2020, the Protecting Tenants and Strengthening Community Housing Act received Royal Assent.

The Act contained amendments to the Housing Services Act, 2011 that were part of the government’s Community Housing Renewal Strategy — a multi-year strategy to stabilize and grow Ontario’s community housing sector.

The amendments to the Housing Services Act, 2011 were broad and enabling and were intended to provide the regulation making authority required to establish a new regulatory framework for community housing to stabilize and grow the community housing system, improve access and modernize accountability.

The ministry worked extensively with the community housing sector in the development of a new regulatory framework for community housing, holding more than 30 engagements with key sector stakeholders, including service managers and housing providers. In addition, the ministry published the proposed scope of the regulatory framework on the Regulatory Registry for broader stakeholder feedback. The ministry received a total of 150 submissions through the Regulatory Registry process.

On March 30, 2022, government announced a new regulatory framework for community housing that responds to the extensive consultation with the sector. The new framework will stabilize the community housing system for those who live and work in it by:

• Encouraging housing providers to remain in the system by signing service agreements. This will protect critical community housing supply and encourage housing providers to continue to offer deeply affordable rents for tens of thousands of Ontario households.
• Requiring service managers to set local income and asset limits and continuing to prioritize survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking for rent-geared-to-income assistance.
• Improving efficiency and updating accountability rules to encourage new programs that meet local housing needs.

As of January 1, 2023, all of these changes have come into effect, with full implementation by July 1, 2023. MMAH is working with sector partners on guidance material to support implementation, including negotiation of service agreements.

Canada-Ontario housing benefit

The COHB is a nine-year $1.4 billion joint federal-provincial housing allowance program that gives people more choice in where they live.

As of February 2023, over 17,000 households have been approved for monthly housing benefits under the COHB program since April 1, 2020.

Investments provided to service managers and indigenous housing providers

In 2022–23 the ministry provided approximately $254.8 million in capital and operating investments to community housing through service managers and Indigenous housing providers under the Canada-Ontario Social Housing Agreement, and ongoing affordability payments under the Affordable Housing Program.

The ministry also provided approximately $335.4 million in capital and operating funding to service managers and Indigenous Program Administrators under the National Housing Strategy programs.

Homelessness

These programs provide a flexible array of services and supports to help those who are homeless — and those at risk of homelessness — to become stably housed or avoid becoming homeless in the first place. Additionally, the ministry has been working across government on supportive housing, as it is recognized as an effective way to prevent and address homelessness and prevent the unnecessary use of other costly provincial systems (for example, emergency shelters or emergency rooms).

Social services relief fund

At the outset of the COVID‑19 pandemic, the provincial government took immediate action to help improve housing and homeless shelter solutions, and support vulnerable people, with the creation of the Social Services Relief Fund (SSRF). The SSRF helped to give service managers and Indigenous Program Administrators the flexibility to respond to local needs such as solutions to provide social distancing in shelters and congregate care settings, personal protective equipment for service providers, and assisting people with rent arrears, contributing to containing the spread of COVID‑19 and saving lives.

The objectives of the SSRF were to:

1. Mitigate ongoing risks for vulnerable people, especially in congregate care settings
2. Encourage longer-term housing-based solutions to homelessness post‑COVID‑19
3. Enhance rent assistance provided to households in rent arrears due to COVID‑19

In 2022–23, an additional $154.5 million was made available under the SSRF, bringing the total investment to over $1.2 billion. This additional funding was used to protect homeless shelter staff and residents, add to rent banks, create long-term housing solutions, and support plans to prepare for potential future outbreaks or emergencies. The SSRF funding released in 2022–23 was provided to service managers through the Homelessness Prevention Program transfer payment agreement, and to Indigenous Program Administrators through the existing Indigenous Supportive Housing Program agreement. This was done to ensure that the investment was delivered as quickly as possible, and to provide maximum flexibility to respond to varying local needs across the province.

Multi-Ministry Supportive Housing Initiative

In the 2019 provincial budget, the government committed to reviewing Ontario’s supportive housing programs to identify opportunities to streamline and improve coordination, so that people get the help they need. The ministry has been working closely with the ministries of Children, Community and Social Services (MCCSS) and Health (MOH) on this initiative.

Accomplishments to date include:

• Completing a cost avoidance review of supportive housing to help inform ongoing efforts to improve supportive housing in Ontario.
• Consolidating the former Community Homelessness Prevention Initiative, Home for Good and the Strong Communities Rent Supplement Program into one new program, the Homelessness Prevention Program, so that service managers and other program delivery partners are able to spend more time on serving clients than administrative tasks.
• Requiring that all service managers have a By-Name List of people experiencing homelessness in place, to help connect clients to housing and supports.
• Creating and renovating almost 1,200 supportive housing units through the SSRF.
• Funding increases to the Homelessness Prevention Program and Indigenous Supportive Housing Program (as outlined further below)
• Ongoing collaboration with MCCSS and MOH on:
  • The development of a pre-screening framework to help people navigate towards the right housing and supports.
  • The establishment of local integrated supportive housing planning requirements to coordinate supportive housing across the housing, health and community services sectors.

In addition, the former Associate Minister of Housing, Michael Parsa, hosted seven supportive housing roundtable sessions in November 2022 with approximately 150 stakeholders from across the province in attendance, including Francophone communities; Indigenous people; municipalities; persons with disabilities; seniors; youth; and victims and survivors of domestic violence and anti-human trafficking. Valuable feedback was received during these sessions, which will help inform the ongoing work to improve supportive housing in Ontario.

Supportive housing/homelessness prevention investments

Service managers and Indigenous Program Administrators have made significant investments in supportive housing through the SSRF. A total of almost 1,200 units of supportive housing are being created through investments under this program, creating long-term solutions that will transition people out of homelessness.

As part of MMSHI, MMAH, MOH and MCCSS each consolidated their supportive housing programs to reduce administrative burden, so service managers and other service providers have more time to serve clients. As part of this work, MMAH launched the Homelessness Prevention Program (HPP) on April 1, 2022. The program is the result of the consolidation of funding from the former Community Homelessness Prevention Initiative, Home For Good and Strong Communities Rent Supplement Program into one simplified and streamlined initiative and included an additional $24.7 million in funding for a total investment of $463.4 million in 2022–23. The program supports service managers to provide affordable housing and supports for people at risk of or experiencing homelessness.

The Indigenous Supportive Housing Program (ISHP) is specifically designed to be administered by Indigenous organizations. This program helps Indigenous people experiencing homelessness to access housing assistance and supports to become stably housed. In 2022–23, $30 million in funding — including $10 million in operating funding dedicated to supporting Indigenous individuals with mental health and/or addictions challenges that was incorporated into ISHP — was made available to the two Indigenous Program Administrators.

ISHP funding can be used for longer-term housing solutions such as supportive housing, transitional housing, rent supplements and housing allowances, and help to avoid emergency-based responses like shelters. It provides a secure, predictable source of funding for Indigenous housing providers to deliver culturally appropriate supportive housing services to support the health and well-being of Indigenous people in their communities.

Outbreak management planning

Throughout the pandemic, the ministry was focused on protecting the health and safety of vulnerable people in Ontario. Outbreak management planning initiatives were an important part of this focus. Initiatives completed in 2022–23 include the following:

• Continuing to support service managers and Indigenous Program Administrators with the acquisition of critically-needed personal protective equipment and high efficiency particulate air filters through provincial supply channels overseen by the ministries of Health and Public and Business Service Delivery.
• Facilitating service managers’ participation in the Ministry of Health’s Provincial Antigen Screening Program and 2San Rapid Antigen Saliva-based Test Trial.
• Working with the Ministry of Health to distribute information to service managers regarding: COVID‑19 guidance for congregate care settings; the availability of mobile vaccination clinics; and a vaccination resource toolkit focused on vulnerable populations experiencing vaccine hesitancy.
• Meeting with a service manager/Indigenous Program Administrator COVID Response Group table, to discuss front-line pandemic experiences, and areas where more provincial support is needed.

COVID‑19 surveys

Since April 2020, MMAH collected information about COVID‑19 in ministry-funded emergency shelters and congregate living supportive housing facilities from service managers, through a regular survey.

In 2022–23, data continued to be collected up to December 2022 regarding each facility’s capacity, clients served, COVID‑19 cases and vaccination clinics. Ongoing notification to the ministry of COVID‑19 outbreaks in these facilities continues to support risk management.

By-Name List implementation

In March 2021, MMAH introduced a requirement for service managers to implement By-Name Lists by December 31, 2021. A By-Name List is a real-time list of people experiencing homelessness in a community that includes information about individuals’ needs to connect people to a range of housing options and supports and improve service coordination. As of January 1, 2022, all 47 service managers had a By-Name List in place.

In April 2022, MMAH released new By-Name List requirements that built on the previous requirements and support the HPP goals of addressing and reducing homelessness. The new requirements include a more extensive set of data points, and broader coverage and comprehensiveness that helps service managers connect more people to the services and supports they need. These new requirements were implemented by service managers by April 1, 2023. As a condition of HPP funding, service managers are required to maintain a By-Name List in accordance with provincial requirements.

MMAH renewed its partnership in 2022–23 with the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness (CAEH), which began in 2021–22, to help service managers implement the new By-Name List requirements. CAEH provided service managers with technical training, coaching, and data systems support, as well as access to webinars, Community of Practice calls, workshops, tools and an on-line portal focused on new By-Name List requirements.

Municipal finance and governance

Strengthened relationship with municipalities

In 2022–23, the ministry continued to work closely with the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) and the City of Toronto. As per the joint Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), the ministry engages with MMAH on initiatives that impact municipalities. In the past year of reporting, four formal meetings were held with MMAH under the MOU. During the in-person MMAH Conference in 2022, the ministry coordinated approximately 583 delegations and 5 multi-minister meetings. The ministry coordinated a further 331 municipal delegation and five multi-minister meetings at the Rural Ontario Municipal Conference in January 2023. MMAH also facilitated more than 14 meetings between the province and the City of Toronto to discuss initiatives with potential impacts to the city under the Toronto-Ontario Cooperation and Consultation Agreement. In addition, the ministry also facilitated four Provincial-Municipal Technical Working Group meetings on COVID‑19 emerging issues with MMAH and the City of Toronto.

In 2022–23, the ministry continued to implement two programs, the Audit and Accountability Fund and the Municipal Modernization Program, to help municipalities find efficiencies, reduce costs and improve services. More than 60% (272 of 444) of municipalities from every region of Ontario participated in these programs in 2022–23. A total of 46 projects were completed under Intake 3 of the Audit and Accountability Fund for a total investment of approximately $8 million targeted to digital modernization, streamlining development approvals and service integration. Under Intake 2 and 3 of the Municipal Modernization Program, municipalities completed nearly 300 third-party service delivery reviews. The ministry also provided extensions for 220 implementation projects under Intake 3 of the program that are set for completion in 2023–24. The ministry also continued to implement the Streamline Development Approval Fund, making more than $45 million available to Ontario’s 39 largest municipalities to implement initiatives such as e-permitting systems, online application portals, additional staffing including interns to address backlogs, and other projects aimed at streamlining approvals and unlocking housing supply. Projects under the Streamline Development Approval Fund will be completed in 2023–24.

The ministry made changes to the municipal development-related charges framework, including freezing, reducing and eliminating fees, to spur the supply of new home construction and help address Ontario’s housing supply crisis. This includes ensuring affordable housing units and non-profit housing developments will be exempt from municipal development charges, parkland dedication levies and community benefits charges. To incent the supply of much needed rental housing, rental units now benefit from development charge discounts of up to 25 per cent. In addition, the ministry committed to launching a third-party audit of select municipalities’ finances.

The ministry introduced the St. Thomas — Central Elgin Boundary Adjustment Act, 2023 which annexed a portion of the Municipality of Central Elgin to the City of St. Thomas. The Act consolidated a new investment-ready mega site in St. Thomas to attract large-scale advanced manufacturing investments (for example, Volkswagen).

In 2022–23, the ministry improved the accessibility of municipal financial data by adding new dashboards to the Financial Information Return website. These dashboards allow users to understand complex FIR data quickly with easy-to-use graphs and analyze it from different perspectives, for example, long-term trend analysis and regional comparison.

In 2022–23 the ministry implemented a strong mayor framework that provides the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa with additional powers and duties. This new framework provides greater authorities for the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa to move forward on shared provincial-municipal priorities, such as building 1.5 million new homes by 2031.

The ministry also supported the municipal election process through the delivery of guidance materials for candidates, third party advertisers and voters, as well as inquiry responses through the 2022 municipal election process. As part of the ministry’s outreach initiatives related to municipal elections the ministry conducted:

• 77 candidate and third-party orientation sessions training about 1,900 municipal election candidates and third-party advertisers in 307 municipalities.
• 10 clerk and school board election official training sessions were held, training 135 municipal and school board election staff in 104 municipalities.
• 30 orientation sessions were held, training 700 members of council and staff on their roles and responsibilities in 134 municipalities.

Supported municipalities following the COVID‑19 pandemic

To ensure that the City of Toronto is well positioned to maintain services that support its role as a provincial employment hub and a key driver of Canada’s economy, the ministry provided $235 million in funding to address the city’s 2022 operating budget pressure.

MMAH has collected and tracked detailed information related to municipal impacts from COVID‑19 to support policy and program development and provided consistent, timely information to all municipalities on COVID‑19 response and government decisions, policies, and programs.

Land use planning

Legislative and policy changes

A number of changes to the Planning Act and other legislation and policies under the ministry’s jurisdiction were undertaken in 2022–23 to support government priorities.

• As part of delivering on a Budget 2022 commitment of building 1.5 million new homes in Ontario over 10 years, 29 lower- and single-tier municipalities were assigned housing targets to be achieved by 2031. Municipalities were requested to complete Housing Pledges that would identify the tools and strategies to achieve their housing targets and submit the pledges to the ministry. Note that the tools and strategies identified in municipal pledges can be broader than just those related to land use planning and may be related to other areas.
• As part of More Homes Built Faster: Ontario’s Housing Supply Action Plan: 2022–2023, consultation was undertaken from October to December 2022 on a housing focused policy review. The objective was to determine how to integrate Provincial Policy Statement, 2020 (PPS) and A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (A Place to Grow) into a new province-wide planning policy instrument. The outcome of the review would enable municipalities to accelerate the development of housing and increase housing supply (including rural housing), through a more streamlined, province-wide land use planning policy framework.
• Through Bill 109, the More Homes for Everyone Act, 2022, changes were made to the Planning Act to introduce a new tool, the Community Infrastructure and Housing Accelerator, to support municipal requests to streamline zoning for priority projects, as well as changes to expedite approvals, incent timely approvals, and ensure provincial policies are implemented.
• Through Bill 109, the Planning Act was amended to, among other things, give the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing the authority to require municipalities and planning boards to report information on planning matters, through a new Minister’s regulation.
• Through, the More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022, changes were made to the Planning Act to support intensification near transit, encourage gentle density, prohibit exclusionary zoning and provide increased housing options by automatically permitting up to 3 units on any parcel of land where residential uses are permitted in settlement areas with full municipal water and sewage services. Further changes were made to streamline development approvals and reduce the costs of development.
• Changes were made to the Greenbelt Plan and Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan in December 2022 following consultation to remove/redesignate 15 areas of land totalling approximately 7,400 acres (approximately 2,995 hectares) from the edge of the Greenbelt to accommodate the growth and support the building of more homes. At the same time 9,400 acres of land (portion of the Paris Galt and 13 Urban River Valleys), was added to the Greenbelt resulting in an overall expansion of 2,000 acres to the Greenbelt.
• To streamline and reduce red tape, consultation was undertaken from October to December 2022 on a proposal to revoke the Parkway Belt West Plan and the Central Pickering Development Plan. The Central Pickering Development Plan was subsequently revoked in December 2022.

Operational implementation

Throughout 2022–23, the ministry worked with inter-ministerial partners and municipalities to implement and uphold matters of provincial interest and provincial land use planning policy, including the Provincial Policy Statement and the four major provincial land use plans — the Greenbelt Plan, Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (A Place to Grow), the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan and the Niagara Escarpment Plan.

This past year, the ministry supported the making of 27 Minister’s Zoning Orders and 7 Minister’s Zoning Order amendments to accelerate critical priority projects that will enable more long-term care beds, increase the availability of affordable and seniors’ housing, and facilitate municipal economic development opportunities such as manufacturing, retail complexes, and tourism-based development.

The ministry also issued its first Community Infrastructure and Housing Accelerator order to support the development of Long-Term Care in the Town of the Blue Mountains.

In November 2022, the ministry approved six (6) new official plans and official plan amendments for a number of upper-tier and single-tier municipalities (the regions of Peel, York, Niagara, and Halton and the cities of Ottawa and Hamilton) across Ontario reflecting both local and provincial land-use planning priorities. These new official plans govern growth and development in municipalities that are currently home to over 5,500,000 Ontarians. That is almost 40% of the population of Ontario, and 15% of the population of Canada. In addition, in April 2023, the ministry approved another six (6) official plans and official plan amendments for the cities of Guelph, Peterborough, Barrie and Belleville and for the Region of Waterloo and the County of Wellington. These municipalities are home to over 1.1 million people and are expected to grow by over 700,000 people by 2051.

The ministry’s approval of the plans contributes to the government’s target of building 1.5 million homes over the next 10 years. The ministry has continued to monitor the status of municipal progress to conform with provincial policies particularly in the Greater Golden Horseshoe.

In a continued effort to support local autonomy in land-use planning decision making, the ministry granted certain municipalities, at their request, additional local decision-making authority (authority to approve land division) and exemption from the requirement for ministry approval of official plan amendments.

Building regulation

Harmonization of construction codes

The ministry continued to work with the National Research Council and other provinces and territories on the implementation of the Reconciliation Agreement on Construction Codes and the transformation of the national code development system, including developing governance model recommendations.

Transformation of the national code development system will occur in phases over the course of the current code cycle to ensure a seamless operational transition. MMAH, along with the other parties, are working to find more efficient streamlined procedures to make construction codes.

Ontario is committed to further harmonization with the bilingual National Construction Codes, and the next edition of Ontario’s Code (that will come into effect in March 2024) will include a greater proportion of content that is available in French. The ministry anticipates providing a link to the National Codes to provide access in both official languages to relevant parts when the next edition of Ontario’s Building Code is filed. Timelines to translate Ontario’s Code in its entirety will be established after the next edition of Ontario’s Code has been finalized.

The National Research Council is currently launching consultations for the 2025 National Construction Codes, with a series of public reviews expected by the end of 2024. The ministry is encouraging Ontarians to participate in those consultations because the code changes proposed in these consultations are intended to be adopted into Ontario’s Building Code in 2026 / 2027.

Next edition of Ontario’s building code

Throughout the year, the ministry began drafting the next edition of Ontario’s Building Code. In addition, a multi-phase consultation was launched.

The first phase took place in Fall 2021 and focused on reducing existing variations with the National Construction Codes as well as updating some Ontario-specific provisions.

The second phase took place in Winter 2022 and proposed Code changes that would align Ontario’s Building Code with the 2020 National Construction Codes.

The third phase proposed Code changes that would update additional Ontario-specific provisions and follow-up on any proposals from the previous phases that stakeholders had raised concerns with. This phase was open October 2022 and closed in December 2022.

In addition to receiving feedback through postings on the Regulatory Registry of Ontario and the Environmental Registry of Ontario, the ministry held engagement sessions with internal and external partners and stakeholders.

The Next Edition of Ontario’s Building Code is expected to be filed in July/August 2023.

Building code amendments

On April 29, 2022, the ministry filed Ontario Regulation 451/22 to amend the Building Code to include the following:

Support the More Homes for Everyone Act by:

• Adding new provisions to allow for the early and partial occupancy for super tall buildings (for example, those that are 65 storeys or more)
• Removing barriers to muti-residential modular construction projects
• Allowing encapsulated mass timber buildings to be constructed up to 12 storeys high
• Supporting local building official internship program
• Exempt sheds of up to 15 square metres in area from Building Code requirements (subject to technical conditions)

On February 28, 2023, the ministry filed Ontario Regulation 30/23 to amend the Building Code to include the following:

• Building permits are now required for outdoor demountable stages and associated sound and lighting equipment towers. These stages must also comply with specific technical requirements for stage safety.
• Smoke damper requirements are being streamlined to facilitate the construction of certain buildings, such as hospitals and long-term care facilities. These changes will clarify the requirements and avoid unintended construction and ongoing maintenance costs for large, complex buildings that are currently being designed and constructed.
• Building Code exemptions are extended for temporary heath or residential facilities until March 31, 2024 (Ontario Regulation 31/23). These measures will facilitate continued flexibility in Ontario’s health care and shelter systems in support of COVID‑19 pandemic recovery efforts.

A new model for municipal intern inspectors

In April 2022, the ministry amended Ontario Regulation 451/22 of the Code to help municipalities address labour supply shortages in the building sector. The amendment provides a new model for municipal building departments to design and administer internship programs for building inspectors that is less administratively burdensome to operate and more flexible to address local recruitment and enforcement needs.

This new internship model supports public safety by continuing to require that a qualified building inspector or Chief Building Official supervises the work of interns. The interns must pass ministry technical and legal exams before being able to practice independently as building inspectors. As of March 2023, two municipalities have adopted policies to implement local internship programs under this model, and the ministry continues to promote local internships to other municipalities.

The ministry hosted a working group of municipal building officials in March 2023 to review and provide feedback on draft program guidelines designed to support municipalities in their work to design and administer internship programs. This support material is expected to be finalized and released to all municipalities in Spring 2023.

Enhancing the Process for the Qualification of Building Practitioners

In April 2022, the ministry initiated a review of the Building Code qualification program to determine potential enhancements, assisted by a third-party consultant. The review included:

• Evaluation of the current program and its objectives
• Consideration of best practices in adult learning
• Consultation with key stakeholders
• Jurisdictional analysis of alternative qualification approaches
• Review of current exam questions

The review produced a series of potential operational and future design changes to help building practitioners better understand and apply the Code and help improve qualification outcomes for individuals.

The ministry posted a discussion paper outlining these potential changes to the Environmental Registry of Ontario (ERO) that closed for comments on February 17, 2023. Potential enhancements for public consultation included:

• Use of the new digital Building Code during exams
• Allowing candidates more time per question during exams
• Considering mandatory training prior to exams
• Considering alternative ways to enter the sector
• Restructuring the current exams
• Requiring knowledge maintenance attestations

As of March 2023, ERO comments are under review regarding opportunities for implementation.

Digital building code

The ministry developed a digital version of the Building Code Compendium that was made available upon request as of March 4, 2022. In September 2022, the ministry enhanced the digital Code by incorporating features that improve navigation and use, including bookmarks, hyperlinked tables of contents, and the ability to insert personal notes or highlight sections of the Code. By March 2023, the ministry had responded to over 8,000 requests for digital copies of the Code.

Previously, the Compendium was only available in hard-copy format for purchase through Publications Ontario. The digital Compendium is comprised of both Volume 1 (technical requirements) and Volume 2 (appendix notes, supplementary standards). Volume 2 provides information considered critical to understanding and applying the technical requirements in the Building Code and has never before been made available on a free-of-charge basis. A digital Building Code Compendium offers an additional format for accessing code materials that may be more convenient for some users, including on a portable electronic device to conduct inspections of new houses and buildings on a construction site.

QuARTS improvements

The ministry has successfully completed key steps to enable the modernization of the provincial QuARTS, the IT system used by building practitioners (building officials, designers, design firms, septic installers and Registered Code Agencies) to register their qualifications and ongoing availability to practice with the ministry. QuARTS is used by over 7,000 building practitioners to update their qualification and registration information online and to help the government regulate safety and compliance in Ontario’s building industry.

Modernization efforts to improve usability features and ensure the integrity of program data included:

• Surveying 3,000 QuARTS users in April 2022 to obtain feedback on future potential improvements to the QuARTS system’s usability.
• Developing the framework for the next improvements to QuARTS based on business processes, stakeholder input and Deloitte’s recommendations, from June to October 2022.
• Conducting over twenty user research sessions between November 2022 and February 2023, using a mock-up prototype to test potential system design enhancements.
• Undertaking a privacy impact assessment to ensure rigorous data standards are enforced for user information.
• Commencing a digital first assessment in Summer 2023, as part of Ontario’s Digital First Standard to build and deliver simpler, faster, better government services and products for the people who live and do business in Ontario.

Modernizing QuARTS will create a more efficient and user-friendly system, allowing building practitioners to spend more time on value-added tasks such as submitting, reviewing and issuing building permits which can help support the government’s key priority of increasing housing stock.

Disaster recovery financial assistance

Disaster recovery assistance for Ontarians program

The Disaster Recovery Assistance for Ontarians program helps homeowners, tenants, small owner-operated businesses and farms, and not-for-profit organizations get back on their feet after a natural disaster. The program helps eligible applicants cover emergency expenses, return their homes to a safe and habitable condition and get small businesses up and running again.

In 2022–23, the ministry administered applications from 18 disaster events. In total, the ministry issued over 150 decisions to applicants, including interim payments, final payments and decline notices; made payments totalling over $2.19 million to eligible applicants; and closed over 100 applications. There were 5 new activations of the program in 2022–23.

Municipal disaster recovery assistance program

The Municipal Disaster Recovery Assistance program provides financial assistance to municipalities affected by natural disasters for emergency response and repair or replacement of damaged municipal infrastructure. The program was activated for 19 municipalities in 2022–23:

• Township of Addington Highlands (May 2022 windstorm) up to $932,000
• Township of Alfred and Plantagenet (May 2022 windstorm) up to $809,000
• Township of Asphodel-Norwood (May 2022 windstorm) up to $142,000
• City of Clarence-Rockland (May 2022 windstorm) up to $751,000
• Township of Greater Madawaska (May 2022 windstorm) up to $272,000
• Township of Limerick (May 2022 windstorm) up to $402,000
• Township of North Frontenac (May 2022 windstorm) up to $193,000
• Township of Tudor and Cashel (May 2022 windstorm) up to $531,000
• Township of Uxbridge (May 2022 windstorm) up to $881,000
• Township of Wollaston (May 2022 windstorm) up to $117,000
• Township of Conmee (Spring 2022 Flooding) up to $146,000
• Town of Fort Frances (Spring 2022 Flooding) up to $1,454,000
• Township of Ignace (Spring 2022 Flooding) up to $1,744,000
• City of Kenora (Spring 2022 Flooding) up to $1,304,000
• Township of La Vallee (Spring 2022 Flooding) up to $107,000
• Township of Lake of the Woods (Spring 2022 Flooding) up to $59,000
• Township of O’Connor (Spring 2022 Flooding) up to $31,000
• Municipality of Red Lake (Spring 2022 Flooding) up to $716,000
• Municipality of Sioux Lookout (Spring 2022 Flooding) up to $458,000

The ministry continued to administer 12 claims from previous disasters and made final payments for four of these. Payments totalling over $3.5 million under the MDRA program were made in 2022–23.

National disaster mitigation program

The National Disaster Mitigation Program is a federal program that offers funding for flood mapping and flood mitigation projects. The ministry administers the program in Ontario and flows federal funding for projects through to municipalities, conservation authorities and other eligible recipients.

The NDMP was extended to 2022–23 to enable the implementation of approved projects to be completed. There are no further intakes for new project proposals and the program closes March 31, 2023. Since 2016, there have been 238 NDMP projects approved in Ontario for a total of $48.9 million in federal funding.

Wheatley residents assistance program

In 2021–22, the ministry designed a special Wheatley Residents Assistance Program to help people who were evacuated from their homes in the community of Wheatley in the Municipality of Chatham-Kent following a subsurface gas explosion. In 2022–23 the program was extended to August 31, 2023, to continue supporting evacuated residents with housing costs and other emergency expenses.

Ministry emergency management program

Under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act, all ministries are required to maintain an emergency management program to ensure the Ontario government is ready to respond when emergencies and disasters occur. The ministry maintains a strong program focused on the ministry’s Order-in-Council responsibility to plan for emergencies that require coordination of extraordinary provincial expenditures, including provision of disaster financial assistance.

In 2022–23, ministry staff updated the Ministry Emergency Response Plan with specific attention to nuclear planning obligations under the Provincial Nuclear Emergency Response Plan. The Ministry Action Group participated in a provincial exercise in October to test the plan and the ministry’s preparedness for a nuclear disaster. Lessons learned will be incorporated into future iterations of the Ministry Emergency Response Plan. The ministry completed all legislated requirements for the 2022 calendar year and expects its program to be assessed as fully compliant with the provincial legislation.

Also in 2022–23, in response to the historic derecho storm that occurred across much of southern Ontario in May 2022, MMAH staff across the West, Central and East regions conducted preliminary damage assessments in the aftermath of the storm, coordinating efforts with other provincial ministries and the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre and in close collaboration with the Northern Tornadoes Project at Western University. The ministry followed up on initial damage estimates by deploying twenty Provincial Disaster Assessment Teams to conduct in-person assessments of homes, small businesses, and farms in the hardest hit areas and surveying over 250 municipalities on their impacts.

2022–23 Results