Housing

Communities across Canada are facing a shortage of affordable housing options, and St. Marys is no exception.

Actions to address housing shortage

Locally, there are very few rental options available. Even when vacancies arise, rents are often higher than what the average earner can afford.

We know that this is an issue, and that everyone deserves a place to call home.

Over the past several years, we have taken a number of actions to address the housing shortage, including:

Introducing Official Plan policies that encourage and permit more affordable and attainable housing
Amending the Zoning by-law to permit secondary units and more efficient, cost-effective housing
Updating the Community Improvement Plan to include grants for property owners who convert vacant or underused spaces to rental units
Encouraging affordable and attainable housing through the pre-consultation and development application review process

Attainable Housing Action Plan

In 2023, we further demonstrated our commitment to creating new homes by launching Opening Doors: An Attainable Housing Action Plan for the Town of St. Marys.

Opening Doors was developed by a housing expert, following consultations with developers, builders, and community members. It was approved by Council in February 2023.

The plan sets out an ambitious goal of creating 200 new rental units in St. Marys by 2027, with 30 of these falling into the attainable housing category.

Read the Opening Doors housing plan
Read the updates to the Opening Doors housing plan

The plan identifies four focus areas to help achieve these targets. Click each focus area below to learn more and see the progress we have made to date.

Focus Area 1: Policies

We will review and update internal policies as part of our efforts to increase our housing stock. Changes will be made to help retain current rental units and encourage the building/development of new rental homes.

Focus Area 1 initiatives

Initiative	Actions & next steps	Status
1.1 Municipal Facilities Capital by-law for Housing	Allows incentives and negotiations for units considered as “municipal facilities” based on local needs.	Complete
1.2. Review of best practices and response to Bill 23	Discussions with other municipalities in Ontario specifically related to tools to advance housing affordability	Ongoing
1.3 Surplus Land Policy update	To be updated for greater range of options and directions related to surplus, strategic, or held lands with development potential	Ongoing
1.4 Preventative Policy review	A review of policies and directions geared to helping retain current affordable units in St. Marys	Pending
1.5 Procurement Policy review	Policy updates to allow for strategic/innovative initiatives including for municipal lands	Complete pending future changes

Focus Area 2: Programs & Incentives

We will review our current incentive and grant programs to ensure they are advancing our attainable housing goals. We will also investigate other funding opportunities/sources for housing projects.

Focus Area 2 initiatives

Initiative	Actions & next steps	Status
2.1 Review of existing tools and incentives including Community Improvement Plan and Ancillary/Additional Units	Assembly and review of all “tools” (permissions and incentives) provided by the Town to advance attainable housing	Ongoing
2.2 Review and training on all CMHC and SM funding programs and incentives	Engagement of CMHC and SM to promote projects including those that take advantage of stacked/layered funding (for deeper affordability, efficiency, or more units)	Ongoing
2.3 Monetizing municipal services and expedited practices	Allows municipal services and staff resources dedicated to supporting attainable housing to be monetized as a contribution to projects	Subject to CMHC applications and specific projects

Focus Area 3: Land

We will consider opportunities to use land we currently own – or could acquire in the future – as space for affordable housing. An interest-bearing reserve fund will help ensure we are financially prepared when acquisition opportunities arise. We will work directly with local developers to explore options for adding more attainable units on their land.

Focus Area 3 initiatives

Initiative	Actions & next steps	Status
3.1 Surplus Land Use Plans	Identification of all surplus municipally owned lands and potential for alternative use (See 1.1)	Ongoing
3.2 Sale of Land and Revenue Strategy	Establishing an interest-bearing reserve fund to support potential strategic land acquisition or assembly (See 1.1, 3.1)	Ongoing
3.3 Strategic Land Plan	Engagements (and where possible and appropriate, acquisitions) related to strategic lands that may have attainable housing potential	Subject to CMHC applications and specific projects
3.4 Engaging developers	Exploring underutilized land use plans (maximizing permissions)	Ongoing

Focus Area 4: Implementation Team

Focus Area 4 initiatives

Initiative	Actions & next steps	Status
4.1 Improved data and metrics related to attainable housing goals	Discussions with other municipalities in Ontario specifically related to tools to advance affordability	Ongoing
4.2 Impact analysis and recommended advocacy measures related to new government programs and regulations	Immediate reporting on new information related to regulations for Bill 23 as available; review of all CMHC affordable housing programs	Ongoing
4.3 Working with consultant to establish a semi-annual reporting process aimed at engagement, training and ongoing planning by staff and Council	As part of the ongoing work, Council will be updated twice each year on activities related to the attainable housing plan	Ongoing
4.4 Cross functional staff training (Town, ABC and strategic partners)	Establishing a common understanding across Town staff related to all development plans	Ongoing
4.5 Communications plans	Targeted discussions and briefing notes for specific service areas, other ABCs, governments, and networks	Pending
4.6 Overall plan management and leadership	Under the stewardship of the CAO, each policy and initiative will be advanced by a senior director through interdepartmental teams	Underway
Others subject to ongoing review	At present, the attainable housing plan is based on existing municipal allocations and resources; this will continue to be monitored

Resources

If you require any documents listed on this page in an alternate format, please contact the Clerk's Office at 519-284-2340 ext. 212 or clerksoffice@town.stmarys.on.ca.

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