Despite adding long-term care beds, retirement homes and student dormitories to its housing statistics, the Ford government fell tens of thousands of units short of its goal last year.
New data released by the province this month confirms that even with its modified definitions of new housing, Ontario achieved less than 80 per cent of its self-imposed 125,000-unit target for 2024.
The figure was introduced by the Ford government after it won the 2022 election, partly with a promise to build 1.5 million new homes over 10 years to 2031.
As part of the push, the government assigned housing targets to major municipalities, offering financial incentives to towns and cities that hit their targets.
The new data shows just 15 achieved their targets in 2024, while another eight managed 80 per cent or above, which the province also rewards municipalities for.
Another 27 — including major cities like Ottawa, Mississauga and Brampton — all failed to meet their targets.
“These are bad news numbers and they show what an utter failure the Ford government’s housing policy has been,” Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said.
“I certainly understand why they want to delay releasing the bad news, and I also understand why they’re trying to fudge the numbers by including forms of housing that were never part of the intent of the original 1.5 million target.”
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing said the government was offering funds to help cities build new housing.
“With over $3 billion in housing and community-enabling infrastructure investments and $1.2 billion committed through the Building Faster Fund, we remained focused on delivering the homes Ontario families need,” they wrote in a statement.
Lower housing starts and increasing targets
Ontario’s cratering housing starts come as its targets ramp up.
As it looked to fulfil its promise of 1.5 million homes in a decade, Ontario introduced the Building Faster Fund, a pot of money designed to reward cities which meet their housing goals.
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The fund came with individual targets for municipalities, as well as for the province overall.
The annual goal for the province itself was staggered, beginning at 110,000 for 2023 and climbing every year. The goal for 2024 was 125,000, it is 150,000 this year and will increase to 175,000 per year for 2026 onwards.
In 2023, once it included long-term care beds and other dwellings in its statistics, Ontario exceeded its 110,000 by just under 600 new units.
The province managed just under 95,000 of its 125,000 target in 2024 — or 73,462 if long-term care beds, student housing and other extra categories were excluded.
A little over 20 per cent of housing starts in Ontario last year were actually long-term care, student dorms or other alternative categories not recognized by federal counts.
The added housing starts in 2024 were:
- 14,381 additional residential units, like basements or laneway houses
- 2,807 post-secondary student beds
- 2,278 long-term care beds
- 1,825 suites in retirement homes
The latest data was the first time Ontario has included retirement homes and student residences in its statistics. Long-term care beds were first added in 2023.
The government did not address a question asking if it planned to add even more categories to its definition of a new home.
Meanwhile, the number of municipalities hitting their goals also dropped significantly.
In 2023, there were 20 municipalities which exceeded their target and 12 which managed more than 80 per cent. Those fell to 15 exceeded and eight above 80 per cent through the latest funding.
Ontario Liberal MPP Adil Shamji said the failure of the majority of municipalities to hit their targets is an indictment of provincial — not local — policy.
“It’s like in a school classroom — if one student fails, maybe it’s the student’s fault,” he said. “When the whole class is failing, you’ve got to wonder what the teacher’s not doing right.”
The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing pointed to its latest legislation as a cause for optimism that housing starts may improve.
“Through our legislation, the Protect Ontario by Building Faster and Smarter Act, we are getting more shovels in the ground by streamlining development processes, lowering costs, and reducing delays,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
While Ontario’s total housing starts have been available from federal sources since early this year, Ontario has spent months tabulating the figures and only released them in early August.
The government said it took time to update the data, which was further delayed by the snap election call in February.
Shamji, however, said he assumed the government was deliberately dragging its feet.
“No doubt this government is ashamed to have to publicly release this information because these are not results to be proud of,” he said.
“Imagine you’re a government that gets to set your own targets, your own definitions, even for what counts as housing, and… and even then you have nothing to show except such dismal results.”
Data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation shows that over the first six months of 2025, Ontario was on course to do even worse.
Housing starts until June for areas with a population of more than 10,000 people were at around 27,400 — a drop of 25 per cent compared to the same period last year.
Beyond a statement saying Ontario saw 9,125 new rental housing starts between January and June this year, the Ford government has not yet released any data for 2025.
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