Tag: Affordable Housing

GUELPH POLITICAST #534 – Housing: The Bigger Picture (feat. Ashley Schuitema and Matt Whitfield & Gaetan Heroux

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Due to circumstances beyond our control, this week’s episode of the Guelph Politicast is a combination of two interviews from recent editions of Open Sources Guelph. Housing remains a big issue in this city, as we saw as recently as last night’s council meeting, but housing is an Ontario-wide issue too so for this episode of the pod we will open our gaze to areas beyond our borders. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #534 – Housing: The Bigger Picture (feat. Ashley Schuitema and Matt Whitfield & Gaetan Heroux” →

This Week at Council: Niska Lands Blocked, Renoviction Bylaw Unlocked!

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It was a pretty big week for Guelph City Council in terms of both length and substance. The planning meeting also had scale, between the approval of a massive new project for the downtown area and the protection of a big piece of land in the south end. There were also big implications for supporting affordable housing in the city, as staff brought back three very in-demand new bylaws. So let’s get all the details from two mega meetings in this recap! Continue reading “This Week at Council: Niska Lands Blocked, Renoviction Bylaw Unlocked!” →

RECAP: City Council Meeting for June 10, 2026

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You’re just in time for a special meeting of city council! You can click here for the amended agenda from City Hall, and you can click here for the Politico preview. For the complete blow-by-blow of today’s council meeting, you can follow along during the meeting on Blue Sky or recap the complete thread after the meeting below. You can also watch the City’s own live-stream of the meeting here. Continue reading “RECAP: City Council Meeting for June 10, 2026” →

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the June 10, 2026 Meeting?

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There’s one meeting already planned for this week, so why not two? And like the other meeting, which is the planning meeting, there one has to do with housing too. Picking up where we left off from last fall, council will make a move to implement a vacant home tax, a renoviction bylaw, and a rent replacement bylaw. Will these projects meeting council’s expectations, or will it be back to the drawing board for these long in-demand measures? Let’s dig into the agenda. Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the June 10, 2026 Meeting?” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #519 – Habitat’s Silver Anniversary (feat. Sarah Spry)

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It’s an interesting time for someone new to take on the reins of this organization, and not just because of the housing crisis. This is the 25th birthday of Habitat for Humanity in Guelph and Wellington, so it’s a time of celebration, along with a time of tremendous challenge. In the overwhelming crunch of the crisis, how does the brand name in affordable housing celebrate its silver anniversary? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #519 – Habitat’s Silver Anniversary (feat. Sarah Spry)” →

This Week at Council: Squares, Downloading, and Bike Lanes End 2025

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It was the last council meeting of the year, and it’s been a wild ride, but there were at least a couple of surprises left for civic policy nerds before Christmas Break. Yes, as expected, council discussed the final, final design for St. George’s Square as council sought the ever nebulous “wow” factor. In addition to that there was some push back from council about changes to conservation authorities and a twist ending for fans of bike lanes. For the last time in 2025, here’s the recap… Continue reading “This Week at Council: Squares, Downloading, and Bike Lanes End 2025” →

RECAP: City Council Meeting for December 16, 2025

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Let us wrap up a very busy, and a very difficult 2025 in the council chambers. You can click here for the amended agenda from City Hall, and you can click here for the Politico preview. For the complete blow-by-blow of today’s council meeting, you can follow along with the thread below, or you can watch the whole meeting for yourself by watching it on the City’s website here. Continue reading “RECAP: City Council Meeting for December 16, 2025” →

This Week at Council: More ADUs, But Four Units is Enough?

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In the last planning meeting for 2025, there was indeed a lot of planning. No new projects were on the agenda, so no future additions to the housing stock, but maybe the fruits of this meeting will lead the way(?). In the first half, council talked about making it easier to get more ADUs built in the city, and in the second half they looked at doing more than four units as-of-right in low residential areas. Let’s get into the recap! Continue reading “This Week at Council: More ADUs, But Four Units is Enough?” →

RECAP: City Council Meeting for December 9, 2025

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Plans and planning will on the agenda for this second-to-last meeting for 2025! You can click here for the amended agenda from City Hall, and you can click here for the Politico preview. For the complete blow-by-blow of today’s council meeting, you can follow along during the meeting on Blue Sky or recap the complete thread after the meeting below. You can also watch the City’s own live-stream of the meeting here. Continue reading “RECAP: City Council Meeting for December 9, 2025” →

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the December 16, 2025 Meeting?

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Merry Christmas! City council’s present to you is a new vision for St. George’s Square assuming that they want to pursue it. That’s one of the items in what looks to be a fairly straightforward final meeting of the year, which will feature any final thoughts about the items from Committee of the Whole, a busy (and mysterious) closed meeting agenda,  and some new appointments to the advisory committees. Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the December 16, 2025 Meeting?” →