Toronto housing among least affordable on this global index. Here's what experts say needs to change
A new global index suggests Toronto is among the world's worst cities when it comes to housing affordability — as experts blame decades of policy missteps, development delays, and overwhelming population demand for the problem.
The 2025 Global Cities Index from Oxford Economics finds that as a result of Toronto's expensive real estate market, residents 'spend more of their income on housing than residents of nearly every other city in the world.'
While the federal government recently promised to eliminate the GST on first-time home purchases under $1 million, critics argue that restrictive housing policies, costly development charges and sluggish approvals have created a market that's out of reach for most buyers.
The average price of a home in the Toronto area did decline four per cent year-over-year in May but still stood at more than $1.1 million, according to the latest data from the Toronto Region Real Estate Board.
'Over the past 20 years Toronto's population has grown by 35 per cent but affordable housing hasn't kept up. The result? Life is getting too expensive for families,' Mayor Olivia Chow said during a press conference on Friday. 'Young people are giving up on the dream of home ownership.'
The City of Toronto has a program where it will defer development fees for some projects so long as at least 20 per cent of its units are affordable.
However, demand for the program has far exceeded the city's ability to fund it and as a result Chow says that there are projects totalling 300,000 new units from about 70 different developers that are 'shovel ready' and just 'sitting there in the pipeline' waiting for funding from other levels of government.
In Toronto alone, development fees can add more than $100,000 to the cost of a new home and in some areas in the GTA development fees can easily double that, says Frank Clayton, Senior Research Fellow at Toronto Metropolitan University.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has previously promised to help municipalities reduce those fees by 50 per cent through additional payments that could be distributed by the provinces though he has not provided a timeline for those investments.
'If a municipality takes $200,000 up front, developers got to increase their prices such that $200,000 is reflected ultimately in the price of the house,' Clayton said. 'Builders won't build, unless they can cover their costs.'
Toronto housing
A real estate sign is displayed on the front lawn of a house in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on Thursday, May 11, 2017.
Clayton identifies three key culprits behind Toronto's crisis: high fees, restrictive planning rules, and relentless demand — the latter driven in part by immigration. Last year alone, nearly 300,000 newcomers arrived in the region, fuelling further housing pressure.
'You need sites. You need sites that are zoned, and you need sites that are serviced,' Clayton said. 'The planning system is very unresponsive to changes in demand.'
'We have to act now'
New home sales in the GTA hit a seventh consecutive month of record all-time lows in April, owing in part to a significant reduction in housing starts.
Dave Wilkes, president and CEO of the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD), says time is running out to fix the system.
'We are seeing real market consequences. 80,000 people leave the GTA,' Wilkes said. 'The longer we wait, the longer that it's going to take to balance supply and demand.'
Wilkes is calling for urgent action on housing taxes — especially the harmonized sales tax (HST) formula, which hasn't been revised since 1991.
'Making that change on HST today is the most immediate thing we could do,' Wilkes said. 'It would bring costs down by a dramatic 13 per cent for the first million dollars of a purchase.'
He also warned that the federal government's plan to remove GST only for homes under $1 million misses the mark in high-cost cities like Toronto, where the average sale price sits well above that.
'Under a million is just not a product type that is available in the GTA,' he emphasized.
Row of houses in Toronto
Children ride bikes by a row of houses in Toronto on Tuesday July 12, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston
What is the market is lacking?
Jason Mercer, Chief Information Officer for the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board, says affordability has technically improved — but warns that too little new construction could reverse that trend.
'Two years ago, a lot of households simply wouldn't have qualified,' Mercer said. 'Today, I would argue that a lot of those households could qualify, because prices have edged lower and interest rates have come down.'
Still, Mercer says demand will eventually rebound, and if the city can't match it with supply, prices will climb again.
'We haven't done a good job keeping up with housing supply to meet that population growth,' he said. 'From a public policy perspective, we want to look at ways that we see sort of a sustained pipeline of new housing coming online.'
A turning point with urgency
Clayton says the roots of the crisis stretch back to the early-2000s when Ontario shifted its land-use focus towards environmental protection, including the establishment of the Greenbelt.
He argues the policy limited where housing could be built, and gave too much power to growth management plans that discouraged the types of homes most people want — townhouses and detached units.
'We have to have a competitive supply of land,' Clayton said. 'Because if there's competition, then prices don't go up very much.'
Despite efforts from all levels of government to address the issue — including a recent Ontario bill aimed at speeding up construction — most experts agree that housing affordability won't be meaningfully restored unless there's a broad and urgent shift in policy, from zoning and fees to taxes and timelines.
'The time for discussion has concluded. We really need the time for action,' Wilkes said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
National Post
an hour ago
- National Post
TomaGold Set to Launch Strategic Drilling Campaign on its Chibougamau Projects
Article content Planned 53-hole exploration drilling campaign targeting mainly the Berrigan, Radar, David, Dufault and Obalski properties Article content MONTREAL — TOMAGOLD CORPORATION (TSXV: LOT) (' TomaGold ' or the ' Company ') is pleased to announce the upcoming launch of its 2025 drilling campaign, which will focus primarily on the properties currently under option from SOQUEM and Chibougamau Independent Mines in the Chibougamau Mining Camp, as well as its wholly-owned Obalski Project (the ' Chibougamau Projects '). Article content David Grondin, CEO of TomaGold stated: Article content 'The Chibougamau Mining Camp has recently attracted significant exploration activity, underscoring the region's increasing potential for gold and copper discoveries. Since the beginning of the year, we have compiled project data, advanced preliminary work, identified high-priority targets, and prepared our properties to be drill-ready. Our 53-hole exploration program will focus on our key projects—Berrigan, Radar, David, Dufault, and Obalski—with the objective of uncovering new gold-copper mineralization on well-defined, strategically selected targets. We are eager to commence drilling and build on the momentum in this highly prospective region.' Article content Drill and Work Permits Secured Article content TomaGold has obtained all the necessary drilling and work permits, including the ATI ('Autorisation de Travaux à Impact') and forestry permits, to begin exploration activities across its Chibougamau Projects. Article content Drill Pad Setup and Mobilization Status Article content All access trails to the drill sites have been cleared and secured, and the drill setups are ready for immediate mobilization. A total of 53 drill targets have been identified and are fully permitted. While preparing the sites during the winter, the team also conducted limited and selective surface sampling in select areas. Analytical results from this sampling are currently pending. Article content Geophysical Survey Work on Obalski Article content A downhole resistivity/induced polarization (IP) logging survey was conducted in hole OBS-17-002, which intersected the newly interpreted NE-SW Zone on the Obalski Project. The objective was to determine the in-situ physical properties of this high-grade copper-gold zone to define the most effective geophysical method for the upcoming drilling campaign. The resistivity and chargeability contrasts measured between the host rocks and the NE-SW Zone are up to 10,000 times more conductive and 10 times more chargeable, respectively. To confirm these results, the geophysical properties of hole OBS-23-032 were also measured. This hole was interpreted to have intersected the same NE-SW Zone some 65 m further south. The results again confirmed similar conductive and chargeable contrasts of 25,000x and 10x, respectively. These very high contrasts suggest that electromagnetic (EM) and induced polarization (IP) methods could be successfully applied in this geological context of the Obalski project and possibly the Chibougamau Camp. Article content 3D Modelling and Structural Reinterpretation Article content TomaGold has completed approximately 95% of the geological reinterpretation and 3D modeling of the Obalski project. The updated model incorporates historical and recent data, providing a more comprehensive understanding of structural controls and mineralization trends. Final conclusions and visuals from the model will be presented shortly. Article content The Company has initiated a similar modelling and reinterpretation process across its other projects, leveraging the structural insights gained from the Obalski project reinterpretation. Article content TomaGold has outlined a series of geophysical surveys to be conducted across its Chibougamau Projects in 2025, pending crew availability and seasonal access. These surveys are designed to refine drill targeting and enhance geological modelling across key assets. Article content Summary of Planned Geophysical Work by Project: Article content Project Planned Geophysical Survey Obalski (100% TomaGold) IP survey along the D vein, covering the Wilson and South zones Radar (Under option from SOQUEM) Airborne magnetic survey (50 m line spacing), ground IP surveys on new targets, possible 3D ambient tomography David (Under option from SOQUEM) Downhole IP in historical and recent drill holes, pending casing verification Dufault (Under option from SOQUEM) NW–SE IP survey over the 055° vein corridor; NE–SW IP over the Bourbeau Sill outlet zone Berrigan (Under option from Chibougamau Independent Mines) 2D and 3D modelling under way; geophysical surveys anticipated in subsequent phases Article content These surveys will complement the current structural reinterpretation work and support future drilling campaigns across the portfolio. Article content The technical content of this press release has been reviewed and approved by Jean Lafleur, the Company's Vice President of Exploration and a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101. Article content About TomaGold Article content TomaGold Corporation (TSXV: LOT) is a Canadian mineral exploration company engaged in the acquisition, assessment, exploration and development of gold, copper, rare earth elements and lithium projects. Its primary goal is to consolidate the Chibougamau Mining Camp in northern Quebec. In addition to the agreements to acquire 13 properties in the camp, the Company holds interests in two gold properties in the vicinity of the camp: Obalski and Doda Lake. TomaGold also owns a 100% interest in a lithium property and in the Star Lake rare earth elements property, located in the James Bay region of Quebec, as well as a 24.5% interest in the Baird property, located near the Red Lake mining camp in Ontario through a joint venture with Evolution Mining Ltd. and New Gold Inc. Article content Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information Article content This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed 'forward-looking statements'. All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that the Company expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words 'expects', 'plans', 'anticipates', 'believes', 'intends', 'estimates', 'projects', 'potential' and similar expressions, or that events or conditions 'will', 'would', 'may', 'could' or 'should' occur. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include the potential results of exploration and drilling activities, market prices, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates, opinions, or other factors should change. Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Contacts
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
SoftBank pitches US$1 trillion Arizona AI hub, Bloomberg News reports
SoftBank Group founder Masayoshi Son is envisaging setting up a US$1 trillion industrial complex in Arizona that will build robots and artificial intelligence, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. Son is seeking to team up with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) for the project, which is aimed at bringing back high-end tech manufacturing to the U.S. and to create a version of China's vast manufacturing hub of Shenzhen, the report said. SoftBank officials have spoken with U.S. federal and state government officials to discuss possible tax breaks for companies building factories or otherwise investing in the industrial park, including talks with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, the report said. SoftBank is keen to have TSMC involved in the project, codenamed Project Crystal Land, but it is not clear in what capacity, the report said. It is also not clear the Taiwanese company would be interested, it said. TSMC is already building chipmaking factories in the U.S. with a planned investment of $165 billion. Son is also sounding out interest among tech companies including Samsung Electronics, the report said. The plans are preliminary and feasibility depends on support from the Trump administration and state officials, it said. A commitment of $1 trillion would be double that of the $500 billion 'Stargate' project which seeks to build out data center capacity across the U.S., with funding from SoftBank, OpenAI and Oracle. SoftBank and TSMC declined to comment. The White House and U.S. Department of Commerce did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The proposed scheme follows a series of big investment announcements SoftBank has made this year. In March it announced it would acquire U.S. semiconductor design company Ampere for $6.5 billion and in April said it would underwrite up to $40 billion of new investment in OpenAI, of which up to $10 billion would be syndicated to other investors. This week SoftBank raised $4.8 billion from a sale of shares in T-Mobile TMUS.O.
National Post
an hour ago
- National Post
Dentalcorp Declares Dividend and Announces Release Date for Second Quarter 2025 Results
Article content TORONTO — dentalcorp Holdings Ltd. ('Dentalcorp' or the 'Company') (TSX: DNTL), Canada's largest and one of North America's fastest growing networks of dental practices, declared a dividend and announced that it will release its second quarter 2025 financial results before the market open on August 8, 2025. Article content Dividend Article content Article content The Company's Board of Directors has authorized a dividend of $0.025 per Subordinate Voting Share and Multiple Voting Share, payable on July 22, 2025 to shareholders of record at the close of business on July 3, 2025. The Company has designated this dividend as an eligible dividend within the meaning of the Income Tax Act (Canada). Article content Second Quarter 2025 Results Conference Call Article content The Company will hold a conference call to provide a business update on Friday, August 8, 2025, at 8:30 a.m. ET. A question-and-answer session will follow the business update. Article content About Dentalcorp Article content Dentalcorp is Canada's largest and one of North America's fastest growing networks of dental practices, committed to advancing the overall well-being of Canadians by delivering the best clinical outcomes and unforgettable experiences. Dentalcorp acquires leading dental practices, uniting its network in a common goal: to be Canada's most trusted healthcare network. Leveraging its industry-leading technology, know-how and scale, Dentalcorp offers professionals the unique opportunity to retain their clinical autonomy while unlocking their potential for future growth. To learn more, visit Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Contacts Article content For investor inquiries, please contact: Article content Investor Relations Article content Article content Nick Xiang Article content Article content Article content Article content (416) 558-8338 x 866 Article content Media Article content Article content Sebastien Bouchard Article content Article content Article content
