The Simcoe County Home Builders’ Association (SCHBA) kicked off the new year hosting over 130 industry, housing stakeholder and municipal representatives for some deep-dive policy discussions on the Housing Supply Action Plan at its Simcoe County Housing Summit.
The SCHBA welcomed Barrie Mayor Jeff Lehman as the event keynote speaker, who explained the housing challenges in Barrie and across Simcoe County. Also in attendance were 11 mayors, deputy mayors and wardens from across the county.
The highly successful event featured an address from the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, the Hon. Steve Clark, who reviewed each of the five key themes of the consultation and reiterated that the provincial PC government is serious about undertaking transformative change to deliver more housing supply to the market.
Three key Simcoe County MPPs participated in the summit, including Attorney General Caroline Mulroney (MPP for York Simcoe), MPP Doug Downey (Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte) and MPP Andrea Khanjin (Barrie-Innisfil), who spoke of being a #homebeliever and what it means to her, as an immigrant, to strive for and achieve the great Canadian dream of homeownership.
An effective component of the Summit was the roundtable discussions, where participants representing a wide diversity of stakeholders rolled up their sleeves and engaged in group discussions on various themes and issues identified in the Housing Supply Action Plan.