Prince George’s Standing Committee on Intergovernmental Relations will hear a report on a housing strategy put in place by a regional government in another province at its Tuesday, April 1 meeting.
Kicking off the meeting is a report on Ontario’s Peel Region’s housing and homelessness plan.
According to the report, which is attached to the meeting agenda, the Peel Region is similar to a regional district in BC and is comprised of the City of Mississauga, the City of Brampton and the Town of Caledon.
In 2018, the region implemented a 10-year housing and homelessness plan co-ordinating efforts between the three municipalities by delegating its director of housing services to perform duties and exercise powers to advance those files.
“Under this model, the Peel Region focuses on lower income residents, with support from the municipalities and allows the local municipalities to concentrate on affordable rental housing, affordable ownership, and private market options,” the report said.
Policies under this plan include planning, zoning and both financial and non-financial incentives for developers. The Peel Region works with both its own stock of affordable housing as well as 51 other housing providers.
A document from the Peel Region’s plan discusses five major pillars:
- Transforming service, developing a needs-based approach to help clients with wraparound housing support,
- Building more community housing for the 80 per cent of regional residents who can’t afford to buy or rent a home, including emergency shelter space,
- Maximizing planning tools and incentives to develop policies to get private developers to build affordable housing,
- Optimizing existing stock by improving relationships with existing private landlords and homeowners and
- Increase the amount of supportive housing by removing red tape.
If the committee wants further research into implementing a similar strategy locally or to work with the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George on something similar, the report recommends that a motion be implemented directing staff to do so.
The meeting starts at 10 a.m. in the second-floor conference room at Prince George City Hall.
