The Canadian Press
TORONTO–Ontario Finance minister Charles Sousa confirmed yesterday he plans to include housing affordability measures in his upcoming budget.
Premier Kathleen Wynne has said her government is working on a “comprehensive set of plans,” to deal with rising home prices in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA), as well as rising rental rates.
Sousa said he’d like to include those plans in the spring budget.
There is a “suite of options” available to the province, but it must be careful to avoid “unintended consequences” from those measures, he noted.
Sousa also spoke about pressures on both the supply and demand side of the GTHA housing market.
“Demand is high for a number of factors,” he remarked.
“Could be speculators, could be people from outside the country, it could very well be the many who are now moving into Ontario creating that demand.
“The degree of supply is in question and how to expedite that is also something we’re trying to address,” Sousa added.
The housing package in the budget will concern the red-hot housing market in the GTHA while taking into account different circumstances in the rest of the province, Sousa said.
No date has been set for the Ontario budget, but it’s expected in the coming weeks.
