THUNDER BAY — The proposal to give not-for-profit housing developers a property sale discount of up to 100 per cent, along with property-tax relief, doesn’t sit well with one city councillor.
“I cannot support something that removes taxation at a higher level, and puts the burden on others. I understand the need. I agree with the need. But I don’t agree with these four pillars. I don’t agree with up to 100 per cent free land, nor do I agree with up to 100 per cent free taxation,” Coun. Rajni Agarwal said Tuesday.
The city’s draft Housing Affordability Action Plan sets ambitious targets, including making 20 per cent of all new housing affordable, explained Summer Stevenson, a development services project manager, who presented the plan, for information only, to council’s five-member growth committee.
In 2021, she said, Thunder Bay had 454 homes per 1,000 census residents, compared to a benchmark of 462 homes per 1,000 residents — that adds up to a total deficit of 865.
The deficit grows significantly when looking at affordable housing.
Based on household incomes in 2020, the city had an affordable housing deficit of just over 4,000 homes, with the greatest need among low-income people, where families could afford up to $975 a month, she said.
Stevenson added since the housing accelerator program began in 2024, the city has issued building permits for just over 1,000 new units, but the most of the privately developed units are for median and high-income households.
One hundred and sixteen of those units are considered affordable to low-income households, according to Paula Cunningham, the city’s housing accelerator coordinator.
She said obstacles in advancing non-profit housing projects include limited capacity and expertise, time required to advance projects through design phases, availability of affordable shovel-ready lands, restrictive and time-limited grant funding sources, and high operating expenses, including municipal taxes.
Last November, the Native People of Thunder Bay Development Corporation said their proposals to build affordable housing on surplus city land were rejected by the city, which ultimately moved forward with higher-density market housing projects.
“The draft action plan is intended to improve housing affordability by reducing barriers to development across the housing continuum, by increasing supports for non-market affordable housing providers and enabling policies to help preserve the supply of existing affordable housing,” Stevenson said.
The plan includes 44 actions across six pillars divided amongst four core programs, she said.
The four core programs include the Affordable Housing Concierge Service, a program that helps non-profit housing providers navigate approvals and apply for grants, which was launched in 2024 and funded until 2027.
A seed funding program to help non-profits access federal and provincial fund streams for shovel-ready projects.
A municipal land allocation and discount program. This action item recommends the city continue opening up surplus lands with specific calls for proposals for affordable housing development.
A property tax relief specifically to assist non-market housing developers.
Joel Depeuter, director of development services, said the project would have to be “remarkable” to be receive the maximum level, 100 per cent, of the proposed discount. It would depend on the number of deeply affordable units, the density of the project, and it would have to be significantly beneficial to the surrounding area.
Currently, the city offers a 25 per cent discount on land for non-market housing development, according to Stevenson. But that discount was set in 2002 and needs to be updated to reflect current housing market conditions.
Agarwal asked what benefit the plan has to other taxpayers and what guarantees the plan has to prevent property owners from selling the land because they cannot increase the rent.
“The provincial regulations right now state anything built after November of 2018 does not have rent control. This is a very conflicting process,” she said.
Stevenson said having affordable housing will have trickle-down economic effects across the community because when people are using only 30 per cent, for example, of their income on rent, they will be able to spend money at local businesses or go back to school to upgrade their skills.
She said the programs would be exclusive to not-for-profit housing providers and would have several legal agreements and clauses “that the non-market provider enters into with the city that would prevent that flipping of land for profit.”
In terms of taxation, Stevenson said a recent Court of Appeal decision allows non-profit housing providers to appeal to MPAC for tax reassessment if they provide affordable housing for tax exemption.
“So that’s not something we can necessarily control,” she said.
The plan was presented as information by administration; therefore, they were not seeking the committee’s endorsement at this time.
By Clint Fleury, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Original Published on Jul 23, 2026 at 07:16
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