Sudbury and North Bay exceed Ontario's housing goals thanks to long-term care beds

According to Ontario's housing tracker, which measures how different municipalities in the province are faring on their housing goals, Sudbury and North Bay are on top of their game.

The two northern Ontario cities exceeded their 2023 targets by 156 and 277 per cent, respectively.

The housing tracker includes the number of new home constructions, additional residential units (such as laneway, garden and basement suites added to existing homes), and new or upgraded beds in long-term care homes.

The province rewarded Greater Sudbury with $1.52 million last week for exceeding its targets, as part of a $1.2-billion program designed to encourage municipalities to address the housing supply crisis. North Bay received $400,000 from that fund earlier in March.

Both cities are investing that money in housing-related infrastructure, like wastewater management or transit.

When that incentive program was introduced last year, the Ford government was not including long-term care beds in the final tally, but it reversed its stance on that last fall.

Without that change, Sudbury and North Bay would not have met their housing targets.

In Sudbury, the creation or upgrade of long-term care beds accounted for 36 per cent of the housing target in 2023. In North Bay, that figure is almost 80 per cent.

Differing opinions on whether long-term care beds are housing

The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) does not track the creation or upgrade of long-term care homes in its housing start data.

It does not count dwellings without their own entrance, kitchen and bathroom.

The Ford government hopes to build 1.5 million new homes in Ontario by 2031 to match population growth. To reach that goal, at least 100,000 homes would need to be built every year.

But the figures used in the provincial budget show 88,000 housing starts are expected in 2024.

Opposition parties have criticized the Ford government for including long-term care beds as housing starts as a new attempt to inflate the numbers as the province is not on track to meet its goals otherwise.

But Sudbury Mayor Paul Lefebvresays, "from my perspective, long-term care beds are an integral part of the housing spectrum. For those who reside there, itistheir home.

And over time, as residents move into long-term care, their previous house or apartment then becomes available to accommodate other individuals and families."

Student homes as part of the wider housing goal?

Opposition were concerned earlier this week that the government would also include student housing in its target numbers.

But the legislation tabled on Wednesday did not not include student housing in the overall housing target numbers. Instead, it proposed to exempt universities from the Planning Act so schools could build higher density student residences and avoid planning application fees.

Reached by phone, a spokesperson for Laurentian University said the institution does not comment on proposed policies.

She did, however, say that 182 first-year students are currently living in the university college residence, an 11-storey dormitory-style building that can accommodate 240 students.

In other words, the university's residences are not currently at capacity.