Housing for all incomes is becoming a greater challenge. It is not an issue that we as a country and a province should avoid or download to our city and county. For three decades the provincial and federal governments have been underfunding affordable housing, social housing, cooperative housing, and supportive housing.

This creates a significant issue for those who are finding housing to be far too expensive for incomes that have fallen behind inflation.

I have had extensive experience collaborating with others in building Guelph’s first housing Coop and serving as the last chair of the defunct Wellington and Guelph Housing Authority during the 1990’s. This provides me with an understanding of how complex and expensive public housing is. To be blunt; Guelph cannot afford to build the hundreds and even thousands of truly affordable rental and purchasable homes that are needed here. 

What can the City do? First off, the City should be commended for modifying zoning ensuring that different forms of housing can all be built in a neighbourhood. This reduces cost and permits our community to use brownfield lands for homebuilding. Our approach to “Tiny Homes” and “Accessory Units” ensures that we will increase density and permit many people to offer alternative forms of housing for rent on their property. These are a start but, they are not a solution.

With construction costs approximating $300.00 a square foot, this means that an 800-square foot unit will cost $240,000.00 to build that is without the cost of land. To build 1000 of these units would cost a minimum of 240 million dollars – a price Guelph cannot afford. Currently, we pay 15 million or more just to sustain the housing that the County of Wellington controls. 

Rather than doing nothing, Guelph needs to get active to push the federal and provincial governments to return to the affordable housing market in a real and meaningful manner. Our federal and provincial governments have the means both legal and financial to do this. Right now, they don’t have the will. We as a City must advocate for more supportive, social and cooperative housing to be built just like was done after World War II and during the 1970s. It’s the only way to keep roofs over people’s heads.