Ontario has started cutting development charges. But is this the breakthrough Ontario’s housing market needs, or just the first step?

In this episode of The Missing Middle Podcast, Mike Moffatt sits down with Kim Fairley, President of Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA), to unpack what Ontario’s new development charge reforms mean for homebuyers, builders, and municipalities – and what still needs to happen next.

They discuss:
 • Why development charges can add up to $200,000 to the cost of a new home in Ontario
 • How some Ontario cities have raised DCs by 1,000%–5,000% since 2000
 • Why Sault Ste. Marie has no development charges—and what other cities can learn from it
 • Whether recent provincial and federal reforms will actually improve affordability
 • What Ontario’s housing market could look like over the next 6–18 months

Chapters:

00:00 Intro: Ontario’s new development charge deal: what changes?

03:55 Is housing finally getting more affordable? 

05:14 Northern Ontario’s housing market: a different reality

07:09 Sault Ste. Marie has no development charges

08:07 Do buyers know how much development charges cost?

10:25 Why transparency on development charges matters

12:08 Lower housing costs without raising taxes? 

13:35 Do Ontarians support cutting development charges? 

16:07 Can politicians actually work together on housing? 

17:08 What happens next for Ontario housing? 

18:18 Progress made, but the hard part starts now 

Research/links:

How to Lower Development Charges Without Raising Property Taxes 

https://www.missingmiddleinitiative.ca/p/how-to-lower-development-charges

A Pathway to Development Charge Reform 

https://www.orea.com/advocacy/Development-Charge-Reform

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux

Produced by Meredith Martin

Funded by the Neptis Foundation https://neptis.org/