The housing crisis has hit a critical point; those in the provincial election must meet the challenge

There’s a lot to be anxious about when it comes to our housing crisis, especially when you look at some of the numbers.

• 1.5 million – That’s how many homes we have to build over the next decade to meet our growing population.
• 923,000 – That’s the average price of a home in Ontario today. It was $329,000 a decade ago.
• 38 – That’s the average percentage increase in wages compared to the above jump in average home prices.
• 70 – That’s the percentage of land in Toronto alone restricted for single-detached or semi-detached homes, when what we need is townhouses, duplexes, and triplexes.

All these numbers can add up to a lot of stress for a lot of people. From renters who feel they’ll never own a home, to prospective residents unsure if they’ll be able to live in the same city where they work, to employers trying to find labour, to politicians trying to figure out the right policy.

But for those politicians, the numbers add up to a word: opportunity.

Housing is at the forefront of voters’ minds in this upcoming election and now all parties must have an answer.

This is the time, the critical time, for whoever becomes premier to make the necessary changes to build more units, exactly like the restrictive zoning rules in Toronto.

Now is the time for parties to commit to fixing the endless process, regulation and restrictions that have made it impossible to build more homes at the rate we need.

Now is the time to build not just single-detached or semi-detached, but townhouses, duplexes and triplexes, so we give people the options they need and prevent more urban sprawl from affecting our critical greenspaces.

It’s time to build with your ballot and build new neighbourhoods and perhaps YOUR future home.

Ontario’s population is expected to add another 2.7 million people over the next decade. That’s 910,000 net new households.

The promises and decisions our leaders make now will determine where those people will live, how they will live, and what it will cost them to live.

We may not be building enough today. But with the right changes, we can tomorrow.