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Affordable housing became the hot topic as nearly half of the time allotted for a recent committee meeting of North Bay City Council was spent focusing on what can be done to create and maintain affordable places to live in the city.
A growth update delivered by City of North Bay senior staff ticked all the boxes one would expect from such an endeavour: discussion of growth initiatives and their resulting growth indicators, focusing on the Growth Community Improvement Plan (GCIP), the Downtown Waterfront Master Plan, and the Parks Master Plan.
See related: Committee to receive 'growth update' from City
Another focus was the City's Business Retention and Expansion program and an outline of the City's event funding programs, new arts and culture funding, and new active transportation initiatives, strategically aimed at enhancing the quality of life. The record building numbers from 2021 and the increase in population were also showcased.
See also: North Bay construction values soar to record heights
And: Census shows population growth in 3 of 5 largest urban centres in northern Ontario
Still, of the 75 minutes allotted for the special committee meeting, to be devoted to receiving the growth update, nearly half of that time was spent by councillors discussing and asking questions of staff about the lack of affordable housing in North Bay. And, if not for the discussion running up against the beginning of the scheduled regular meeting, it could have conceivably gone on for hours.
Coun. Ed Valenti initially asked Ian Kilgour, the Director of Community Development and Growth about the shortfall of local skilled labour identified by businesses before shifting gears to "our housing issues," in North Bay.
Valenti linked the lack of available housing to the difficulty in both retaining and attracting that skilled labour force.
"One of the things I hope to see is to encourage [the construction of] more semi-detached and mid-level townhouses," he said. "Is there a way we're trying to address this?"
See also: Committee recommendations would help grow local housing inventory
"All medium-sized urban centres like North Bay are experiencing unprecedented demand and lack of supply. It's a Canadian issue," Kilgour responded. "In fact, skilled labour was identified as one of the issues," in a report to the Ontario government's affordable housing task force.
Beverley Hillier, Manager, Planning & Building Services added both the GCIP and the adoption of the secondary dwelling unit policy have contributed to the intensification of housing.
"A legal second unit is certainly an option now throughout the community," advised Hillier, "and that would allow for that to happen in single-detached and semi-detached dwellings, and in townhouse units, to support that increased level of density."
See also: City rolls out business incentives including waterfront and downtown
Valenti said he would like to see expansion to undeveloped land in addition to the in-filling efforts.
And: 'The demand is high' as Council approves new phase of subdivision
"West Ferris has a lot of land in there," he said. "People are coming here, they don't want to live in apartments, they want to live in a house. And, it could be on a small lot. Have we looked at options to encourage the semi-detached, the townhouses, the lower-end of the housing market to provide affordable housing?"
Hillier acknowledged these are goals of the municipality but affordable housing is a collaboration.
"The City is in a position to help facilitate some of that but certainly we aren't the ones putting the shovels in the ground in terms of the work that is happening from the development community," she observed. "So, if there is a demand for more semi-detached and townhouse developments, I would think the private sector would recognize that, and maybe shift some of the construction."
Affordable housing remains in short supply. Even as the Nipissing District Housing Corporation embarks on a project on Brookes Street with dozens of planned units, Coun. Dave Mendicino, Chair of NDHC recently acknowledged it would take 250 units to meet the demand. And, as the real estate boom continues, prices are high and inventory is scarce. Those seeking affordable lodging are being priced out of homeownership and a competitive rental market.
"Our local housing market is competing with people coming in and that's contributing to the price increases. The City has no control over that," observed Kilgour.
"As much as our average home price has increased as much as it has — which is unprecedented — we're up to $400,000. That is still half of what we're seeing in Kitchener–Waterloo and Orangeville."
See related: Council backs residential development as local real estate industry sees fewest new July listings in 35 years
Kilgour said the lower average price of a home is a major draw for those looking to leave the GTA, that North Bay is half the price of a home in some markets. However, the increased demand does drive the average price up through competitive bidding.
The federal and provincial governments "have got their eye on this. Not only is it the low-income accessibility to housing, but for the first time in probably 30 years, I've heard that the middle class is going to need assistance for, not only homeownership but renting. It's a huge problem."
Coun. Scott Robertson and his family beat the pandemic migration from the GTA by several years as they relocated to North Bay to take advantage of the lower price of a home. He said they had been priced out of most markets in the province.
"People are fleeing unaffordable housing," Robertson told his colleagues. "People want to live wherever they can afford. It's not just low-income people who are struggling, there is a huge swath of our community that is struggling to afford their housing."
Although Robertson said he is pleased the incentive program led to in-filling and development, he noted they are not necessarily designed for affordability. The GCIP does not specifically target affordable housing, Hillier acknowledged but the incentive program has successfully focused on increasing rental supply.
"One of the challenges we were facing was the vacancy rate in the community," Hillier added, "so through the Growth Community Incentive Plan we saw a role for the City to support new rental units."
As more people occupy the new units, there is a long-term spin-off of opportunities in the housing spectrum, Hillier explained.
Robertson wondered what else could be done to add to the rental inventory and whether the City should be more involved in the creation of social housing alongside the District of Nipissing Social Services Administration Board.
The "missing middle" is one of the things we're working on, responded Hillier. "We recognize that the private sector generally takes care of the 'regular' market and housing is a full spectrum of needs across the community and DNSSAB tends to focus on the lower end of the spectrum. We realize there is this middle piece that maybe needs a little support and things like the Growth Community Improvement Plan can come into play to help offset some of that."
Community safety was by far the most common concern cited by businesses surveyed by the Business Retention and Expansion program.
"It was twice the next highest item on the list, after the labour shortage," said Robertson. "Would you agree," he asked Kilgour, "affordability in housing is related to both of those? Community safety, as well as the labour shortage?"
Kilgour agreed it was.
"So," Robertson continued, "if we want to be able to address those concerns that our local businesses are bringing to use, addressing affordable housing," would do that.
