City looking for feedback on affordable housing strategy

NEWS RELEASE
CITY OF BARRIE
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The City of Barrie is updating its affordable housing strategy and is launching a public consultation process that welcomes feedback from residents, potential homeowners, businesses and developers.

The city wants to hear why affordable housing is important to you and your experiences finding affordable housing in Barrie. This consultation supports council’s goal of making Barrie an affordable place to live.

“Having grown up in social housing in Barrie, I can appreciate the impact that having access to stable housing can provide to families and individuals,” said Mayor Alex Nuttall. “The city’s affordable housing strategy will provide a progressive plan of action to help combat the housing and affordability crisis our city is currently facing. Your feedback will allow us to focus on Barrie’s immediate housing needs and ensure that families and individuals, regardless of their income, have adequate housing options that they can afford.”

The city first released a 10-year affordable housing strategy in 2015, with the goal of constructing 840 affordable housing units by 2025. This target was aligned with the County of Simcoe’s 10-year affordable housing plan, which allocated the need of 840 units (of which 252 are geared to subsidy provided by the county). The goal of 840 new units was achieved in 2020.

The first step to update the strategy is to find out about Barrie’s housing market and housing needs of residents seeking housing. Through this consultation process and public meetings, an updated affordable housing strategy will create new opportunities for affordable housing as the city continues to grow.

The update to the affordable housing strategy will be done in three phases:

• A housing needs assessment will help determine the existing housing stock, gaps in housing types, and an estimate of housing supply.
• Recommending policy options and looking at new tools to create new affordable housing units. There will be options relating to affordable housing spending, alternative affordable housing definitions, and options for targeted affordable housing initiatives that can be considered.
• Updating the existing strategy to present to council in early 2024.

Throughout the project, there will be opportunities for the community to provide feedback, including a public survey (which will be available in late April), public sessions and stakeholder meetings, and an affordable housing symposium event (planned for May 4).

Visit BuildingBarrie.ca/AffordableHousing to learn more, sign up to receive project updates, and find out about upcoming engagement opportunities and events.

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