An Ontario-based charity believes the adaptive reuse of heritage buildings could be a solution to creating more affordable housing.

This week, Guelph’s Heritage Advisory Committee expressed its support for the Heritage Helping Housing Building grant program, proposed by Architectural Conservancy Ontario (ACO).

“We can’t do much about inflation, but we can do something about the supply of affordable housing,” said ACO board vice-chair Kae Elgie during the presentation. “We have a proposal on how to turn

“We believe strong heritage protections are consistent and compatible with addressing Ontario’s housing crisis, and we are requesting a new provincial grant that would demonstrate this.”

According to Elgie, there are 9,350 individual properties across Ontario designated under part four of the Heritage Act.

There are an additional 150 heritage conservation districts designated under part five of the OHA, with over 30,000 properties, she said.