By Staff
August 22, 2024
BURLINGTON, ON
Canadian Housing and Mortgage Corporation (CMHC), said recently that the City of Burlington has seen the second highest total number of housing starts in the past decade. Between January and the end of July, Burlington has started construction on 546 new homes.
With the construction of housing of all types slowing down across Ontario, Burlington seeing a significant rise in new housing starts during a time of economic headwinds is a testament to the City’s renewed focus and leadership on housing.
The City has adopted a housing pledge of building 29,000 units by 2031 as its share of the provincial goal to build 1.5 million homes over the next decade. The City also received $21 million dollars in Housing Accelerator Fund money from the Federal Government to accelerate the construction of new homes in Burlington. Additionally, in May of 2024, City of Burlington Council unanimously endorsed a City-wide reduction in Development Charges (taxes on new housing), in response to the housing crisis.
The CMHC numbers don’t appear on the Pipeline to Permit dashboard which is touted as one of the best collections of housing data at the municipal level in the country. CMHC counts a start as the point at which the building is at the grade level.
“The City of Burlington has shown they are serious about addressing the housing crisis by committing to a number of new initiatives designed to spur construction of new housing, including a reduction of development charges, enabling the use of Surety Bonds, and working towards the modernization of their zoning by-law.” said 
Mike Collins-Williams, CEO of the West End Home Builders’ Association. “The market for new condominium construction across Ontario is the worst it’s been in nearly three decades, so it is good to see that when a City like Burlington takes decisive action to reduce taxes on new housing, construction of new homes follows”.
Burlington’s leadership on the housing file is well regarded by both the federal and provincial governments. Both the federal Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Sean Fraser, and provincial Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Paul Calandra, commended Burlington for their leadership at this year’s Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) Conference. WE HBA is pleased to see Burlington continue to take the housing crisis seriously and work in partnership with the home building industry to ensure Burlington is a place where everyone is welcome.
Burlington was not always in the good graces of the province. There was a time when the Premier had to have a quiet with Mayor Meed Ward ands ask what the problem was with the housing starts numbers.
Burlington’s leadership builds on the recognition at all levels of government that new housing supply will significantly help to alleviate our housing crisis.
Related news story:
Housing starts number – nothing to write home about
About West End HBA: Since 1942, the West End Home Builders’ Association (WE HBA) has been the voice of the local residential construction industry. WE HBA provides an effective voice for the land development, home building and renovation industries, as well as for new home buyers. WE HBA is actively engaged in working to ensure its members’ interests are represented at all three levels of government and advocates on behalf of consumers for choice, affordability, and sufficient supply.
