In a unanimous decision of Greater Sudbury city council, the city has signed on to a provincially-set municipal housing target to create 3,800 more homes by 2031.
It turns out the city is not only on track toward meeting the goal, but might even far exceed it.
Following the numbers the province is using, Greater Sudbury hit the 20 per cent mark by the end of September, which was three months shy of two years into the 10-year goal.
Following the city’s numbers, which the province may later adopt, they’ve already closed in on the 30 per cent mark.
“We’re well on track this year, and city data is showing we are exceeding that number,” city senior planner Melissa Riou told council during their Dec. 5 meeting.
The start date was Jan. 1, 2022, since which time the city has issued permits for 774 new residential units by the province’s definition (to the end of September), or 20 per cent of the 2031 target.
The province’s definition follows Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) housing start numbers, which counts new foundations, and excludes property conversions and secondary units. These numbers also exclude long-term care beds and retirement homes, which Mayor Paul Lefebvre noted, “are homes where people live.”
All-in, including all types of units people live in, the number of new housing units created since Jan. 1, 2022, is “over 1,100 units,” city planning services director Kris Longston told city council.
Using this number, he said, “We’re almost at 30 per cent of our target two years in.”
“The province has acknowledged that there are a few tweaks that need to be made to this methodology,” Riou said, noting that although the gap has been acknowledged, they’ve yet to factor it into their housing counts.
Greater Sudbury’s housing target was set by the province as part of their goal to see 1.5 million homes built in the province by 2031. By signing on to the target, the city qualifies itself to receive a portion of the province’s $1.2-billion Building Faster Fund, which will be divvied out to municipalities based on where they land on meeting their targets.
Between 2012 to 2022, the city issued permits to create 4,076 new homes in Greater Sudbury by the CMHC definition, which averages more than 400 per year and would also be on track to meet the provincial target. Since 2020, the city has averaged more than 450 units per year.
According to a recent population projection report by Hemson Consulting, the province’s 3,800-unit goal might be inadequate for Greater Sudbury. They estimate a need for 4,180 new households by 2031.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
