Like so many other small and large cities across Canada, Owen Sound and Grey-Bruce Counties are experiencing a housing crisis. 

To better understand what the housing crisis looks like locally, here are some of the findings from the May, 2022 Vital Signs report from the Grey Bruce Community Foundation 

• When Owen Sound surveyed the public through its website, 36% of respondents identified affordable housing as one of their top concerns.

• In 2021, The Realtors Association Grey Bruce Owen Sound report the comprehensive annual average price was $650,944, a significant increaseof 35% from all of 2020.

• More than 40% of homes in Owen Sound are rented. This rate is double that of Grey County as a whole.

• According to a recent poll by the Royal Bank of Canada, over a third of non-home owners in Ontario under 40 have said they have given up on ever owning a home.

While residential housing subdivision plans have been approved by planning officials in Grey County and Owen Sound, few are under construction and fewer still of the approved projects meet the criteria for affordable housing that costs less than 30% of total household income. 

New builds focus on a desired lifestyle – single-family detached homes – regardless of the demand for smaller and affordable homes. Individuals cannot live or age in the same communities as their family and friends when there are no affordable options available to scale down- from the Community Foundation of Grey Bruce Vital Focus on Housing Report, December 2021.

For more information, dig into the Regional Housing Task Force Report from the Institute of Southern Georgian Bay to understand the myriad of pieces that have contributed to the problem. 

Though the new Inclusionary Zoning Regulations will come into play with any new housing development proposed in Ontario, we are attempting to do something different, which is to create a cooperative housing community that primarily focuses on attainable housing for all of it’s units, rather than some small portion.

The City of Owen Sound does not have an Affordable Housing Strategy.

Meaning there is no formal plan or intention to address this crisis at the city council level. Though there is a Community Improvement Plan that acknowledges the need for attainable housing, it lives within a broader project plan that does not explicitly focus on the housing crisis.

On February 28, 2022 Owen Sound City Council was asked to consider two motions related to housing: one by Deputy Mayor O’Leary, and based in part on a staff report to council, to accept and support Grey County’s housing plan and another by Councillor Merton to create a municipal housing plan for Owen Sound.  Sadly, Councillor Merton’s motion was defeated.

This is an important opportunity for Glassworks to have a campaign for Affordable Housing Strategy.  It is time for attainable housing for middle-income earners to be on the top of the list of promises from all candidates so we can start building homes and changing lives. 

Many of the surrounding municipalities and communities that have formalised Affordable Housing Strategies are ahead of us in taking the actionable steps towards increasing the number of affordable housing units,  and supporting the directives laid out by the Federal and Provincial governments to create more housing for ALL Canadians.

Affordable Housing Strategies All Around Us:

• Grey County

• Bruce County

• City of Barrie 

• Simcoe County

• Kincardine

• Town of the Blue Mountains

In addition to the regional planning efforts underway through Grey Bruce county to address attainable housing, many neighbouring local communities have developed site-specific initiatives, including:

• In September 2013, The Blue Mountains Attainable Housing Corporation (BMAHC)  was established as a not-for-profit corporation with majority control held by The Town of The Blue Mountains to augment the supply of healthy and sustainable ownership housing units in The Blue Mountains, with the goal of providing housing to moderate income working individuals and families locked out of the housing market. The objects were later expanded to also include rental housing options.

• The SPARK Housing Initiative of The Meeting Place Tobermory has conducted a multi-phase investigation that looks at increasing long-term rentals in Northern Bruce Peninsula.

• In 2021, Southgate council approved the formation of the Southgate Affordable Attainable Housing Committee. The committee established 26 initiatives and is now focusing on seven of those as priority recommendations to achieve affordable and attainable housing for all.

• In March 2020, Saugeen Shores council approved the formation of the Attainable Housing Task Force that shared their 45 recommendations in January 2021. The Attainable Housing Task Force highlighted that updating bylaws would allow more attainable housing projects to be developed.

• Recently, the Municipality of Kincardine received feedback through their Corporate Strategic Plan and Economic Development Strategy that identified housing as a significant challenge. In response they are developing a housing action plan “that will identify short-term and long-term actions aimed at increasing housing availability, both rental and ownership options, and support more diverse housing stock (duplex, semis, townhouses, apartments) in the Municipality, including more affordable options”. 

• In March, 2022 Collingwood City Council voted to spend $75K to create a new Affordable Housing Master Plan.

Rezoning is one piece of the puzzle.

Much of our city is zoned for single-family homes, making it next-to-impossible to add townhouses, duplexes, cottage-homes, small apartments and other affordable housing units in local neighbourhoods.  This is the type of housing that helps middle-income workers in construction trades, healthcare, tourism, manufacturing, retail jobs along with students and seniors- get a leg up. 

Additionally, the City of Owen Sound has an excess of Employment Lands.  The most northern part of the city, the northern parts of the East Bluffs, is designated industrial and rural though the industrial park is still not fully developed after decades of being zoned for employment. 

Dating back to 2003, reports from independent consultants hired by the city have recommended the Official Plan move towards the re-designation of this area for future residential and commercial mixed-use purposes. The area is conveniently located close to the water, and within walking distance of the rail trail, public transit, hospital, stores, schools, and smaller commercial enterprises. 

Precendence for rezoning unused and excess employment lands to residential to help respond to housing needs has taken place all over Ontario, most recently in Brockton.

Thanks to generous member loans and years of tenacity and hard work, Glassworks owns 46 acres of employment or industrial lands zoned M4.

A zoning amendment is needed to allow residential construction and to move from talk to action.

Although there were minimal opportunities for public input in the 2021 City of Owen Sound Official Plan Review, it is imperative that the priorities of local residents of Owen Sound – for housing that offers mixed-use development, walkability, sustainability, seniors and missing middle housing (2-6 units per lot), as offered through Glassworks Cooperative Housing Development by made available to the residents of Owen Sound Grey-Bruce, so that this essential data is considered by policy makers to support the case for an amendment to our current zoning. In the fall of 2021, the city of Barrie in Simcoe County, committed to a review of their Zoning By-law standards and proposed amendments to facilitate more affordable housing options.

A zoning amendment is not new or radical.

Ending the exclusionary history of zoning that has historically excluded low- income families offers wealth-building opportunities and dignified living conditions. Minimizing our carbon footprint – if we want to reduce commute times, improve residential energy efficiency, and create the infrastructure necessary for public transit, means we must build more in existing neighbourhoods.

At the end of October 2022 Glassworks submitted an application to the City of Owen Sound to consider a rezoning of the land owned by Glassworks Cooperative.

Board Chair, Kelsey Carriere presented a deputation of the project to the City Council on Monday November 7. To watch the deputation, start at minute 25. Check it out here.