Ontario’s housing crisis was a significant newsmaker in 2023 and despite measures, legislation and other initiatives the government rolled out, affordability and availability remained at crisis levels.

The provincial government often cites its commitment to building 1.5 million homes by 2031, but Richard Lyall, president of the Residential Construction Council of Ontario, says what is really needed is participation and buy-in from all levels of government.

“The housing situation right now is just going to get a lot worse next year because we are not producing housing that we need…This has been a painful year, next year is going to be harder. Something’s got to break somewhere, but we’re not fixing this problem right now at the rate we’re going. Not even close.”

Lyall said interest rates and immigration were two big issues in 2023 that directly correlated to the housing dilemma.

“We’re looking at declining housing supply with unprecedented population growth, so that only means one thing and that’s not good. The province has had a number of false starts on some things, things that they’ve reversed now. We lost a year there…and that’s not helping things.”