Day two of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference brought two big speakers with some different ideas about the needs of cities. In one slot was the man currently serving in the post of the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, and in the other was the man who’s currently the only elected opposition leader in the Ontario legislature, and they offered very different visions indeed. Continue reading “Competing Vision for Cities on Day Two of the AMO Conference”
The question is how the Provincial government can act quickly to get new housing stock built in Ontario, and the answer, apparently, is to create strong mayors. This hypothesis will be put to the test first in Toronto and Ottawa with the Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act, a new piece of legislation introduced today by Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark. Continue reading “New Powers for “Strong Mayors” Coming in Toronto and Ottawa”
The bad news is that your rent might be going up, but the good news is that it’s not going to go up as much as it could have. According to the Government of Ontario, the province’s rent increase guideline for 2023 will be set at 2.5 per cent, meaning that’s how much your landlord might be able to raise your rent by without getting approval from the Landlord and Tenant Board, but hey, it could have been 5.3 per cent. Continue reading “Government of Ontario Cap Rent Increases to 2.5 Per Cent in 2023”
Premier Doug Ford and Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark held a virtual housing summit on Wednesday with municipal leaders from across Ontario. The goal was to find ways to solve the province’s housing crisis, the twin furies of limited supply and sky-high prices, and all parties say some good progress was made. Guelph’s MPP though has his doubts. Continue reading “Housing Summit Heralded for Progress, Schreiner Still Skeptical”
The Dolime Quarry land will become a part of the City of Guelph on January 1, 2022. This announcement comes from Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark who came to Guelph first thing on Monday morning to announce that he’s signing the Ministerial Zoning Order (MZO) that will rezone the quarry once it’s shut down. The struggle to secure the site is over, and the countdown to redevelopment begins. Continue reading “Clark Signs MZO to Make Dolime Residential, Becomes Part of Guelph January 1”
Municipal governments, including the City of Guelph, have been keeping up the pressure against the upper levels of government, and have been demanding more fiscal assistance to combat the negative effects of COVID-19 on the local bottom line. On Thursday, the Government of Ontario opened their own pockets to offer assistance, and they challenged the Federal government to be equally generous. Continue reading “Ontario Government Announces More Money for Municipalities”
As businesses continue to struggle through the pandemic, one of the primary concerns has been whether all shop owners will have a storefront to go back to once the economy re-opens. It’s why for weeks now business owners and politicians have been asking the Government of Ontario to put a moratorium on commercial evictions, and after all that advocacy, Queen’s Park finally granted that request. Continue reading “After Much Pressure, Ontario Government Moves to Ban Commercial Evictions”
At their daily media briefing at Queen’s Park Monday, Premier Doug Ford and members of his cabinet announced that Ontario will begin Stage 2 of the economic re-opening at 12:01 am on Friday June 12. The hitch is that only some portions of the province will move on to Stage 2, as several areas in Ontario will remain at Stage 1 for the time being. Continue reading “Guelph Will Be a Part of Stage 2 Opening of Ontario”
It’s a well-known secret that the COVID-19 pandemic is causing all kinds of complications on the bottom line of businesses and individuals, but it’s also causing streams of red ink for Canada’s cities too. The mayor’s of Ontario’s 29 biggest cities, the Large Urban Mayors’ Caucus of Ontario (LUMCO), are raising the alarm after a meeting today that they need higher levels of government to give them extra help to manage the fiscal blow from coronavirus. Continue reading “LUMCO Looks for Help to Cover COVID-19 Costs”
The members of the Large Urban Mayor’s Caucus of Ontario met again on Friday. With special guests Health Minister Christine Elliott and Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark, the LUMCO mayors heard about the Province’s response to the coronavirus, and then they offered a list of things that they would like to see in the upcoming provincial budget. Continue reading “LUMCO Makes Budget Requests of Government Ministers”
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