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The Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON) is looking forward to continuing to work with Ontario Premier Doug Ford and his government to speed up the homebuilding process and, in particular, lower costly development fees that are stymieing the building of new homes.
“We are pleased that Premier Ford and his government are committed to removing obstacles that hinder construction of new homes,” says RESCON president Richard Lyall. “The approvals system in Ontario takes far too long and only adds to the cost of building a home. Development charges are also out of control and must be reduced to make homes affordable.”
In today’s Throne Speech, the Ford government indicated it intends to follow the example of municipal leaders like Mayor Steven Del Duca of Vaughan and Mayor Carolyn Parrish of Mississauga, whose municipalities have or are in the process of substantially reducing development charges. The government has committed to lowering development fees that add hundreds of thousands of dollars to the cost of a new home for Ontario families. At the same time, the government intends to standardize and bring more transparency to the cost and timelines of building homes, including with respect to Development Charges Background Studies, requirements and building code permit approvals.
In light of the latest figures released by CMHC, these actions are even more urgent. In Ontario, housing starts were down 38 per cent in the first quarter of this year, compared to the same period in 2024. In Toronto, starts in the first quarter were down 58 per cent from the same period in 2024.
“These reforms must be put in place immediately. To get out of the housing crisis, we must reduce the cost of building new homes for consumers,” says Lyall. “That means speeding up the building process and cutting development charges that are choking our residential construction industry. The builders at RESCON are looking forward to continuing to work alongside the Ford government on these critical initiatives and create an environment to get more shovels in the ground.”
RESCON has been critical of the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration as they will lead to significant price hikes for building materials and substantially raise the cost of a new home. We were pleased that the Ford government intends to address the Trump tariffs by transforming Ontario’s economy into the most competitive place in the G7 to invest, create jobs and do business, and proposes that we start by tearing down internal trade barriers within Canada.