Toronto board of trade calls for regulatory reforms to spur housing growth

05-Oct-2026

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The Toronto Region Board of Trade is urging the province to amend zoning and building code rules as it says Ontario is on pace to fall well short of its goal of getting at least 1.5 million new homes built by 2031.

In a report published on October 1, the board said the target is unachievable by the current deadline, which was set by the provincial government in 2022, even if housing production increases over the next five years. Based on budget forecasts, Ontario is projected to fall more than 550,000 homes short of the pace needed by 2029, according to the analysis.

“We already had a massive gap. It was called the housing crisis for a reason,” said board president and CEO Giles Gherson in an interview.

“There’s been a lot of effort and a lot of work gone into, ‘How do we close this housing gap? How do we build houses faster?’ But the disappointing part of it is that the gap remains very, very large.”

The board said that even if ambitious reforms were adopted immediately, municipalities would need to update plans, amend zoning bylaws, align infrastructure investments, service land, and process applications. Those steps could take years, making the 2031 goal unrealistic.