City of Waterloo council summary, April 4, 2022

** The council summary provides a snapshot of the major items presented at today's council meeting. Please refer to the minutes for an official record of the meeting.

Council takes a significant step toward developing an affordable housing blueprint

Addressing the affordable housing shortage is a stated goal of Council, and they have approved a discussion paper and actions that will guide the development of a blueprint for moving forward. The city will now seek input from the community and housing service providers on the paper.

Staff had previously undertaken research, identified goals and targets and consulted with interested parties, including the community, as well as private, non-profit and government housing service providers.

This critical phase of the work identifies key drivers of declining affordability and incudes six goals and 30 actions that the city could undertake to address those drivers. The strategy that is ultimately developed will align and support broader provincial and regional planning and funding frameworks and focus on the areas within the city’s scope of influence. Following consultation, staff will bring an Affordable Housing Strategy to Council for consideration later this year.

An affordable housing strategy is one of a number of city initiatives underway aimed at addressing affordable housing. Other initiatives include the exploration of inclusionary zoning to increase affordable housing within transit station areas, and an affordable housing grant program to help fund not-for-profit affordable housing projects.

The six sections of the discussion paper are:

• Defining affordable housing
• Strategy purpose and scope
• Causes of declining housing affordability
• Principles, goals and targets
• Tools and approaches
• Conclusions & Recommendations

For further details, see page 24 of the staff report: Affordable Housing Strategy: Discussion Paper & Recommendations.

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Media contact:
Tony Iavarone
Director, Corporate Communications
tony.iavarone@waterloo.ca