Housing in Guelph

Guelph. An inclusive, connected, prosperous city where we look after each other and our environment.

The City has been preparing for a future-ready Guelph, and housing supply has been our priority, for years. We want a variety of housing, we want enough housing, and we want people to live in homes they can afford.

Through Bill 23, the Province aims to increase housing supply in Ontario by building 1.5 million homes over the next 10 years. The City of Guelph has been assigned a housing target of 18,000 units by 2031 as part of the provincial goal.

The City has a responsibility to create the conditions needed for housing development, yet we have limited control over some aspects of the process. We must collaborate with our community partners, developers and builders, and other levels of government, to be successful.

A recent letter to the editor (below) highlights the shared responsibility to make housing more attainable.

We all want the same thing.

The information presented here is intended to give the community a better understanding of how the City works to facilitate housing in Guelph. For additional context, including our housing pledge, and how provincial legislation impacts the City of Guelph and our community, please visit  guelph.ca .

When we talk about housing in Guelph, there is a wide range to consider. At one end, there are individuals and families who are in crisis, using emergency shelters or experiencing homelessness. In the middle are people who pay their rent with assistance.

These types of housing are referred to as non-market housing.

In Guelph, the responsibility for making all of this happen is shared between Wellington County and the City.  

The Province has legislated that  Wellington County  is designated as our consolidated municipal services manager. This means that, on behalf of the City of Guelph, the County is primarily responsible for providing non-market housing, with some administrative and financial support from the City.

• Emergency shelters like Wyndham House Youth Shelter and Stepping Stone.
• Transitional housing, like the property at 65 Delhi Street.
• Supportive housing, including Stepping Stone, Bellevue Supportive Housing and the property at 10 Shelldale Crescent.
• Rental units geared to income, where tenants pay no more than 30 per cent of their household income which must be below the threshold set by the Province. 
• Affordable housing, where rents are set at less than or equal to the most recently released  Average Market Rent (AMR)  levels published by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).  Yearly household income must fall below the maximum monthly household limit.

While not included in the housing continuum, there are pressures to increase student housing in Guelph. There are about 24,000 students at the University of Guelph, about 1,200 students at Conestoga College's Speedvale Campus, and we expect another 5,000 students in the downtown core when the college opens its campus on Macdonell Street in 2025. Both institutions recognize the importance of student housing, and we will continue working with them and calling on other levels of government to support programs that will assist our post-secondary institutions to build more and different types of student housing.

At the other end of the housing continuum, are homeowners or renters, who bought or rented through the private market.

As of 2017, about 96 per cent of the housing supply in Guelph is private market housing (65 per cent ownership, 31 per cent rental).

Now that we understand the housing continuum, and how the County manages non-market housing, let's learn about the City's role when it comes to housing supply in Guelph.

The City is responsible for facilitating - not building - housing supply mainly within the private market.

The City can secure affordability, over a maximum period of 25 years through inclusionary zoning.  ​The City can also require that five per cent of the total number of units for a development within a protected major transit station area (downtown), be affordable.​

So what specific actions are we taking to encourage and facilitate more housing across the continuum? Read on to learn more.

The City provides about $5.5 million every year in development fee reductions to contribute to new housing supply, primarily related to creating accessory dwelling units. With provincial changes, it is estimated this could grow to more than $23 million a year to encourage more rental and affordable housing units.

The City also financially supports community partners like Wellington County and other non-profit service providers to manage and deliver critical non-market housing services including emergency shelters, supportive housing and transitional housing, for our community.

The City provides $17 million of base funding to the County every year to fund Guelph's share of the provincially legislated social housing services.

On top of that base funding, the City is financially supporting these housing programs and initiatives:

• We contributed the property at 65 Delhi Street to the County, valued at about $1.4 million, to create new transitional housing space.​
• We provide the County with $495,000 annually through a community benefit agreement to operate the Wyndham House Youth Shelter at 18 Norwich Street East; a City-owned property.
• $500,000 in annual base funding for the City’s affordable housing incentive program; augmented with other one-time contributions, resulting in over $3.1 million provided to three supportive housing projects in Guelph in 2021 and 2022.

Provincial legislation determines the number of non-market units that can be built and this legislation has not been updated since 2011. While the County is doing what the Province mandates, non-market housing is not keeping pace with growth and there are no expectations from the Province to do so.

It's important for all levels of government to fund emergency, transitional, supportive and affordable housing, and the City acknowledges the importance of financially supporting the County so it can continue providing that housing in Guelph.

We must also use the tools at our disposal, in the areas in which we have control, to get Guelph future-ready, and City staff have spent years laying this important groundwork. Scroll down to read more, watch the videos and learn how we are prepping Guelph for more people and more houses.

Let's talk about this a little more.

We're making several changes to make it as smooth and easy as possible to submit and process development and site plan applications. The easier and quicker we can do things, the sooner developers can build more houses.

The City is recruiting for new permanent roles to accelerate the pace of development approvals, including a  development advisor and a housing stability advisor , project managers, technicians and engineers.

We're improving the technology we use to drive efficiencies.

• online services including a building permitting system and appointment booking tool
• process automation
• digitizing corporate building records
• software application upgrades
• application updates related to Bill 109

When the City signed our  housing pledge , we called on all levels of government to help us meet the Province's housing target.

In 2022, City staff:

• coordinated 12 strategic meetings with Ministers
• supported Council and staff with briefing notes on nine issues of significance related to legislation, budget, policy, positions
• coordinated 40 responses to provincial consultations, which is more than double what we normally support in an average year 

Advocacy efforts in 2023:

• Sent six advocacy letters to advance Guelph’s interests
• Responded to the provincial and federal pre-budget consultations with a focus on support for housing across the continuum
• Coordinating Guelph’s Housing Accelerator Fund application
• Coordinating 12 delegation requests to the Association of Ontario Municipalities (AMO)
• Coordinated the following six responses to provincial consultations:

1. Bill 97 (Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act)​
2. Review of proposed policies adapted from A Place to Grow​
3. Review of proposed changes to Provincial Policy Statement
4. Evaluating Municipal Class EA requirements for infrastructure projects
5. Moving to a project list approach under the Environmental Assessment Act​
6. Proposed changes to the Aggregate Resources Act, Ontario Regulation 

City staff have strong relationships with other levels of government and we will continue to advocate for increased legislative flexibility to meet local needs, and increased financial support (i.e., incentives and grants) on behalf of our community.

On  Januar y 12, 2024, the Government of Canada announced that  the City will receive $21.4 million in funding  to help increase housing supply in Guelph through the  Housing Accelerator Fund  (HAF).

The HAF is a $4 billion initiative from the Government of Canada that provides local governments with funding to fast track the creation of new homes. It was designed to remove barriers to increasing the housing supply, encourage local initiatives to build more homes, faster, and support the development of more affordable, diverse, and climate-resilient communities.

The funds will help the City incentivize the creation of 739 new housing units above the City average over the next three years. To help fast-track this additional housing supply, the City will work to:

• Improve permitting processes and reduce upfront costs for applicants;
• Introduce Affordable Housing Community Improvement Plan (CIP) grants;
• Encourage missing middle housing in existing neighbourhoods (i.e., 4+ units on low density residential lots);
• Create an inventory of City and County-owned lands that identify potential land for affordable housing; and,
• Provide incentives for:
  • Additional Dwelling Units (ADUs) and
  • Affordable housing through parking reductions

The City has developed a HAF Action Plan that is primarily focused on achieving progress in three areas to help to enable more housing in the community.

• Change the City’s approach to develop affordable housing
• Support, incentivize, and attract development of housing types that are most needed in Guelph
• Unlock lands for development where infrastructure barriers have existed
• Refine and/or enhance approaches to further reduce existing barriers

• Provide more incentives to fast-track the construction of housing units
• Help the City reduce development application and processing timelines
• Increase certainty and predictability in the development approvals process

• Unlock existing and future growth potential in the Downtown and Guelph Innovation District
• Support the assessment, identification, and prioritization of major infrastructure to advance growth potential

Through Guelph's HAF Action Plan, the City will undertake eight initiatives that will incent 739 additional units above our current average over the next 3 years.

Examples of these initiatives include:

• Developing a new Housing Affordability Strategy to identify actions, advocacy, and partnership approaches to close housing supply gaps;
• Implementing new and enhanced systems and processes to better support and streamline development and construction, including designing a new Community Planning Permit System; and
• Exploring opportunities to increase the number of allowable units on each lot to encourage more diverse housing options that support missing middle housing in existing neighbourhoods (e.g., fourplexes, multiplexes, detached secondary suites).

See Guelph's full HAF Action Plan outlined below. A more detailed description of the plan can be found in City staff's  February 2, 2024 Information Report to Council .

Let's recap. We've financially supported the County and other community partners to provide non-market housing, we've unlocked strategic growth areas for the private market, we've improved internal processes and are staffing up to quickly process development and site plan applications, and we've invested significant infrastructure dollars to make sure our community is supported with sidewalks, roads, bike lanes, multi-use paths and underground utilities like water and sewer pipes. So what's next?

We need 18,000 units built by 2031.

If you want to build houses, you need land that is designated (in our Official Plan) and zoned for the type of residential use you are proposing – for example, low, medium, or high density. If the land is not appropriately designated and zoned, a planning application – a draft plan of subdivision, Official Plan amendment and/or zoning bylaw amendment – is required. These planning applications are reviewed by staff and agencies, go through a public process, and Council decides to approve or deny the proposed development.

Once land is designated and zoned appropriately, a site plan application is required next if you're building more than 10 units. Staff look at the specific details of the proposed development – building locations, grading, trees, pedestrian connections, etc. Once the site plan is approved, building permits can be issued and developers can start to build houses.

A developer can submit a site plan application at any time, and once it's approved, they can choose to build any time. The City cannot force a developer to submit a site plan application or build houses within certain timeframes. Without an approved site plan or building permit, developers cannot build houses.

Council has already approved and zoned land for residential use, that can accommodate 5,892 units (as of December 31, 2022). This number represents a 6.2-year supply of housing, which exceeds the minimum Provincial Planning Statement requirement of three years.​

Between 2021 and 2022, staff approved 2,206 residential housing units. Updated numbers for 2023 will be available in 2024.

This chart shows the number of building permits we've approved each year, by dwelling type, from 2002 to 2022.

Based on this historical data, we will need about 1,974 units per year, about 400 more units than the highest number of permits we've issued in 20 years (1483) to have 18,000 units by 2031.

We've laid the groundwork, we've identified strategic growth areas, we've updated our Official Plan and Zoning Bylaw, we've developed numerous master plans, we're improving and building new infrastructure, we've streamlined and introduced new technology to expedite the development approval process, so what's next?

Here's what we need to achieve the Province's housing goals.

The City has been waiting years, in some cases more than 30 years, for residential units to be built. Here are some examples:

• Tovell Drive (Armel) - 348 apartment units – zoned since 1988 (35 years)
• Willow Road (individual owned) - 50 apartment units – zoning approved since 1988 (35 years)​
• Marshall Drive (Carson Reid) - 55 townhouses – registered since 2010 (13 years)​
• Teal Drive (adjacent to Hanlon Creek Business Park) - 55 townhouse units - registered since 2011 (12 years)​
• Gosling Gardens (Thomasfield Homes, Bird subdivision) - 48 apartment units – registered since 2014 (nine years)​
• Gordon Street (Abode) - 532 units – approved by the Ontario Land Tribunal in 2014 (nine years)​

The map below highlights Guelph's short-term housing supply, as of year-end 2022.

Zoom in or out on the map (below) and click on the pins to see the type of housing, the number of units and when the development application was approved.

If you require this map to be provided in an alternative format as per the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (2005), please email communications@guelph.ca.

In some cases, we're waiting for a site plan application to be submitted for review, or for development requirements to be met by the developer before we can issue a building permit.

Or, there could be any number of other reasons, within or outside a developer's control, that may impact their ability to build units.

For example, developers and builders could be impacted by supply chain issues, an unstable housing market, high interest rates, or an inability to secure trades to do the work.

After years of community engagement and consultation with key audiences, and City Council approval, three key bodies of work have been appealed.

• 10 appeals filed against the Clair-Maltby Secondary Plan
• 17 appeals filed against the Comprehensive Zoning Bylaw​
• One appeal against 65 Delhi Street - the property sold to the County for transitional housing​

These appeals have created unnecessary delays in properly managing growth and bringing much-needed housing space for our most vulnerable community members. They have also diverted critical funding from building infrastructure and processing housing applications because it's now spent on legal processes.

Municipalities rely on specific sources of revenue to pay for the infrastructure needed to support a growing community.

• Development charges​
• Community benefit charges​
• Parkland dedication fees
• Property taxes and service rates​
• Grants​

The primary way the City pays for growth-related infrastructure are development fees directly paid by the developers and homeowners when they build or add on to their home.

The Province has reduced the amount of revenue municipalities can collect at the time of development to cover the capital costs needed to support growth. The reduction in development charges and parkland dedication fees has left a significant gap in revenues that we'll need to make up to actually build the critical infrastructure needed to support more housing.

We estimate we'll lose about $227 million in lost development charges alone over the next 10 years, with $193 million of that new loss because of Bill 23. This does not include the impact to lost revenue from parkland dedication which will add about $1 million per year to the tax base.

City staff apply for infrastructure grants to address the funding gap. Here are some examples of funding we've received:

Even with provincial and federal funding, we won't have enough to cover the costs of growth, and this cost may be downloaded to people and businesses who pay property taxes and service rates.

We encourage the community to learn more about the  2024-2027 multi-year budget .

As a municipality, we're doing everything we can to create an environment where sustainable growth can occur that aligns with our community's vision and follows provincial direction.

There are many factors and people involved and we all have a role to play. We indicated as much when we signed our housing pledge.

This is a collective problem and there’s no single solution. But we owe it to our community to figure it out together.

City staff report on the applications they've received and the residential units they've approved.

As you can see from the graphics below, we're approving site plan and zoning applications faster than ever. We’re hiring more staff and improving technology, because the quicker we can do things, the sooner more houses can be built.

In October 2023, the Province set new annual targets for each municipality, in an effort to ease them into reaching their respective housing targets, and to encourage them with financial incentives should they meet these targets. While the City of Guelph is still mandated to build 18,000 new homes by 2031, the Province has set these targets for our community for the next three years.

2023: 1,350 units

2024: 1,500 units

2025: 1,800 units

As you've read here, City staff are doing everything they can to create the conditions to meet these targets.

In 2023, the City of Guelph received and processed:

• 3 Official Plan amendment application
• 12 Zoning Bylaw amendment applications
• 15 Site Plan applications
• 94 Minor Variance applications
• 27 Land Severance (Consent) applications
• 0 Plan of Subdivision applications
• 6 Plan of Condominium applications
• 5 Condominium registrations
• 1 Minister's Zoning Order (existing)
• 0 Community Infrastructure and Housing Accelerator Orders
• 0 applications for affordable housing units

City staff processed 100 per cent of site plan and Zoning and Official Plan amendment (OPA) applications within the legislated timelines.

City staff approved 1320 new residential units as of December 31, 2023.

You can read more in our  Building Services statistical reports .