Residential Land Adequacy Series

March 2017

The Centre for Urban Research and Land Development (CUR) is undertaking an assessment of the short-term supply of land for housing in the Greater Golden Horseshoe (GGH). This GGH Short-Term Residential Land Adequacy Report Series will be assessing the short-term land supply for individual municipalities. This work builds on a prior CUR publication,  (PDF file) Why There is a Shortage of New Ground-Related Housing in the GTA (June 2015).

Municipalities in Ontario have been mandated by the Province through its various Provincial Policy Statements to maintain at least a continuous three-year supply of serviced or readily serviceable land for new housing by type of unit (the short-term land supply) dating back to 1989 when the Provincial Government of the time issued the Land-Use Planning for Housing Policy Statement in response to housing and land shortages and the deterioration of affordability in the latter 1980s.

Maintaining an ample supply of short-term land for a range of housing types is a critical component of housing affordability in the GTA and the broader GGH. CUR is launching this program of rating individual municipalities according to the adequacy of their short-term land supply to meet the forecast demand by type of unit with their boundaries. The spotlight will be on ground-related housing types – single- and semi-detached together and townhouses - although apartments are covered as well. Municipalities not currently making short-term land supply information by type of unit available will be identified.