7,000 New Homes In 7 Years In Eastern Ontario?

Article by Valerie MacDonald News Now Network

An estimated 1,300 new rental housing units for Northumberland and Peterborough are part of the Eastern Ontario Warden Caucus’ (EOWC) “7 in 7’ plan to build 7,000 such affordable rental spaces during the next seven years.

The proposal’s numbers for the entire region were based on social housing waiting lists, Northumberland chief administrative officer Jennifer Moore told county councillors during the Feb. 15th’s council session as she provided an overview similar to that shared with Ontario Government MPPs during the recent Rural Ontario Municipalities Association (ROMA) conference.

Asked about the breakdown of units between Northumberland and Peterborough, Moore said both have similar needs.

EOWC does not want rural Ontario to be left behind as the Provincial Government goes forward with its plan to create 1.5-million homes over the next decade.

Trent Hills Mayor Bob Crate noted that the estimate to build each unit is about $430,000, based on the $3.1-billion plan.

All of the details in the plan are tentative as KWM Consulting has been hired to develop a business case for EOWC (which represents 103 communities in the eastern part of Ontario), councillors were told. The chair of EOWC, Peter Emon, called them rough numbers still being analyzed and that “it’s still early days,”

At the same time, he told the News Now Network he hoped shovels would be in the ground within 18 months.

Northumberland Warden Mandy Martin, a member of EOWC by virtue of her position as warden, praised the ambitious plan and noted that at ROMA, the actions by EOWC to address rural housing rental needs was seen as positive by the Provincial Government.

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