Breakfast with the Mayor emphasizes change and collaboration

he annual Breakfast with the Mayor event organized by the Greater Ottawa Home Builders’ Association always draws a good crowd and a decent audience response. This time, the event was sold out, and Mayor Mark Sutcliffe basked in a standing ovation at the end of his address.

Following an introduction by Jason Burggraaf, the association’s executive director, Sender Gordon, president and CEO of the event sponsor, Regional Group, took to the podium at the Hellenic Meeting & Reception Centre. His remarks on family and community illustrated how working together creates a position of strength, a theme that was later picked up by the mayor.

Sutcliffe got to his own message quickly and directly.

“My goal this year is to be as innovative as possible on housing approvals,” he said, addressing a major and long-standing impediment to timely homebuilding in Ottawa.

The city’s notorious tardiness in approving developments has become especially problematic because of the housing crisis and the city’s commitment to have 151,000 new homes by 2031.

That commitment, part of the provincial pledge to have 1.5 million new homes by 2031, is proving tricky to reach so far. As of Oct. 26, 2024, only 26,777 homes had been built in Ottawa since the goal was announced in 2022, according to the provincial housing tracker. That was less than 18 per cent of the goal when we had already passed more than 22 per cent of the nine years allotted for the objective.

In the first 10 months of 2024, 6,007 new homes were built in Ottawa — just 48 per cent of the year’s targeted 12,583 units.

Noting that building more homes faster is a complex challenge and one that involves all three levels of government and other partners, Sutcliffe said the city has already streamlined the approval process, allocated more resources to the planning department and introduced a “team approach” to prevent application slowdowns due to, for example, staff absences.

As well, “We are revamping our pre-consultation process, and that’s already reduced application timelines by more than two months.”

Sutcliffe noted existing and potential challenges that are beyond the city’s control, from the effects on the local economy of protectionist tariffs promised by incoming U.S. President Donald Trump to the mood of uncertainty — and possible ensuing reductions in the federal service — occasioned by likely federal and provincial elections this year.

Regardless, Sutcliffe told his Breakfast with the Mayor audience that “if you sell a new home, we’ll get you the building permit as soon as possible.”

Development charges: speak to your election candidate

Sutcliffe was equally direct, if less optimistic, when it came to development charges. They are levied on new homes to help pay for the creation or upgrading of city infrastructure required in a new community. They have long been a bone of contention for homebuilders, who have little choice but to pass along the substantial charge to buyers.

Those charges increased sharply in 2024. The development charge on a townhome inside the Greenbelt, for example, jumped from $34,733 in October 2023 to $44,590 in November 2024, an increase of more than 28 per cent.

Reminding his audience that development charges came about when the federal and provincial governments began shifting responsibility for covering infrastructure costs to municipalities, and that municipalities are facing ever-higher operating expenses, Sutcliffe said, “So, here’s the unfortunate reality: if we were to cut development charges drastically, we would just have to increase property taxes. And I don’t want to have big property tax increases at a time when residents and business owners like you are already facing significant inflationary pressures.”

It was a refreshingly straightforward statement of fact.

One possible solution? Support the municipality’s pressure on other levels of government for more infrastructure dollars. “If you have the chance to talk to your MPs and MPPs or the people running for those jobs… please ask them about infrastructure funding… ask them to invest in municipalities, to give us the tools we need to build that infrastructure.”

Like other of his remarks, Sutcliffe’s words echoed Sender Gordon’s words on the power of cohesion in the face of challenges.

A new task force and affordable housing

The mayor outlined other strategies for building more homes faster.

He said he will bring a motion to city council this month to create a specialized task force on improving the development approval process.

Sutcliffe suggested ideas that could help spur homebuilding. Among them: defer development charges to improve cash flow at the outset of projects (this already exists in Ontario for rental and non-profit housing, although interest can be applied); create incentives for transit-oriented development; rezone and make available long-term leases for residential development of city-owned lands; streamline the urban design review; and convert empty office space for residential use.

He said he will also bring a motion to council to introduce a publicly accessible dashboard that will track the number of permit approvals and the time required to approve each one.

Sutcliffe mentioned as well the federal and provincial funding of affordable housing in Ottawa. More than 1,200 new affordable units will be available for occupancy this year and through to 2027, including Gladstone Village and the redevelopment of Rochester Heights.

Without overpromising, Sutcliffe’s message — including his reminder: “Let’s not underestimate the value of collaboration” — was clearly a welcome one to an industry that is still struggling with everything from high costs to a wary marketplace.

It was certainly welcome enough to net him that standing ovation.