Housing in Simcoe County
Housing is important to people from all income levels across the County. Because of this, we are working on a number of housing plans across the region and were thrilled to receive your feedback throughout 2023!
While we are undergoing these reviews, some towns in our region are also reviewing their own affordable housing plans.
The survey results are in!
The survey results have now been compiled and are available below! If you have additional comments to add, please e-mail us at ahhps@simcoe.ca by April 2nd, 2024. Thanks to everyone who shared their thoughts!
The feedback that we received will help to shape the future of housing across Simcoe County. Thank you again for helping your community grow while the County continues Building Up our region!
City of Orillia
The City of Orillia has a history of working towards increasing the supply of affordable housing in the City. In 2010, the City adopted its Affordable Housing Action Plan. In 2020, the City established an Affordable Housing Reserve Fund to provide financial assistance to affordable housing projects in Orillia being initiated by the government and non-profit organizations, which is encapsulated in the City’s Affordable Housing Incentives Policy also adopted by Council in 2020. The City continues to invest in working towards increasing the supply of affordable housing in the City by hiring a Housing Coordinator on a two-year contract. In 2023, the City of Orillia also partnered with the County of Simcoe to develop an Attainable Supply Action Plan to increase the supply of attainable housing provided by the private market in Simcoe County and Orillia to address affordability for moderate-income households.
More information about housing in the City of Orillia can be found here.
City of Barrie
The City of Barrie is updating its Affordable Housing Strategy. The City first released a 10-year Affordable Housing Strategy in 2015. An updated Affordable Housing Strategy will build plans for new opportunities for creating affordable housing as Barrie continues to grow. The strategy will be based on a solid understanding of Barrie’s housing market and the housing needs of residents seeking affordable and attainable housing. The update will be done in three parts:
- Creation of a housing needs assessment,
- Recommending policy options and looking at new tools, and
- Updating the strategy
More information on Barrie’s strategy can be found here.
Town of Collingwood
Like communities across North America, Collingwood is experiencing an affordable housing crisis. The Town of Collingwood believes that action can and should occur at all levels of government, in collaboration with employers, local community groups and the general public. The Town’s affordable housing efforts focuses on households that earn moderate levels of income. (Moderate income refers to households between the 4th and 6th income deciles. The income deciles are specific to household incomes of Collingwood residents.)
Collingwood’s Current Housing Projects:
Affordable Housing Master Plan
The Affordable Housing Master Plan (AHMP) will be a key pillar to a strong and sustainable Collingwood. The plan builds on the Town of Collingwood’s Affordable Housing Task Force 2021 Housing Needs Assessment which addressed the seriousness of the housing crisis in Collingwood. The AHMP will give the Town of Collingwood prioritized, costed and actionable direction to play its role in addressing the affordable housing crisis. The plan will provide Town of Collingwood Council with recommendations for a focused path forward and the tools required to implement those recommendations. The Town of Collingwood encourages the community to sign up for project updates at this link, including opportunities for stakeholder and public consultation later this spring.
Rapid Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Deployment Program
The Town of Collingwood is thrilled to launch the Rapid ADU Deployment Program as a neighbours-helping-neighbours approach to addressing the affordable housing crisis! ADUs are ideal for empty nesters, seniors, new homeowners and anyone who is “over-housed” with extra space that they aren’t using. The Town of Collingwood’s Affordable Housing Task Force recommended that increasing the supply of ADUs would be the fastest way to deliver more rental housing units to help address the affordable housing crisis. The Town of Collingwood is dovetailing the Rapid ADU Deployment Program with recent provincial legislative changes through Bill 23: The More Homes Built Faster Act that seek to remove barriers and create more ADUs in Collingwood and across the Province. We recognize that adding an ADU can take effort and investment. The Rapid ADU Deployment Program seeks to remove barriers through one-window service, pre-approved designs, financial incentives and landlord support. More details can be found at this link.