Affordable housing is not a distant dream, says Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne

Toronto and its surrounding cluster of growing cites, popularly known as Greater Toronto Area (GTA), has seen a whopping increase of about 33 percent compared to same month last year, raising questions about affordability.

The average price of a detached house in Toronto stands at $1.5 million dollars while around the GTA it will be $900,000 to 1.3 million dollars.

Premier Wynne did not provide further details on the measures but she suggested the measures would have an immediate impact on the hot Toronto-area housing market.

“There is a need for some action that will have an impact fairly quickly, but we also know it’s a complex market and we have to be judicious in the way we bring forward initiatives,” she told The Canadian Press from Illinois, where she met Governor Bruce Rauner to discuss trade.

Meanwhile, Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Patrick Brown pointed out the shortage of housing supply as a major cause to throw the housing market out of the track.

According to opposition leader Brown, the government should focus on long term measures by addressing the shortage in housing supply and to establish a panel of experts to develop housing market measures and also collect data on housing demand and speculative vacancies

But Ontario Finance Minister, Charles Sousa said that the Progressive Conservative is only offering conversation.

“It’s nice that they’ve joined the conversation, but all they’re offering is conversation,” said the minister.

The Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) has pointed out Ontario’s restrictive growth plan, known as Places to Grow, has contributed to the current housing shortage and soaring home prices.

The Municipal Affairs Minister Bill Mauro dismissed that suggestion completely saying there is enough serviced land – connected to municipal water and wastewater systems – in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area to accommodate three to four years’ worth of development.

(Reporting by Suman Das,Image of Premier Kathleen Wynne: Wikimedia Commons)