Ontario is slipping further from its goal of building 1.5 million homes by 2031, according to new data released as part of the province’s annual budget, which shows the province will start building less than half the number of units required this year.
The latest housing starts data, based on private-sector analysis, revises down already grim estimates from previous budgets, which have consistently shown Ontario will not be able to meet its self-imposed target.
Since the 2022 election, when a government housing task force found the province would need 1.5 million new homes within the decade, Premier Doug Ford and his cabinet have made that their official goal.
To reach that target, Ontario would need to start building an average of 150,000 homes per year. It has not managed more than 110,584 — a number made up of about 90,000 housing starts, 10,000 basement units and another 10,000 long-term care beds.
The latest budget projections show Ontario is on course to build less than half of the ideal 150,000 number in 2025. This year, Ontario is expected to begin building 71,800 housing units, with 74,800 next year and 82,500 in 2027.
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.
The same figures show the province will see an 18 per cent decline in housing starts over the next three years compared to projections in earlier budget documents. Instead of constructing 282,000 homes between 2025 to 2027, the province is now expected to build 229,000 homes in that same period.
Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy said the government remained committed to its 1.5 million homes goal and said tariffs had made hitting it harder. The Ford government has previously blamed interest rates and other market conditions for sluggish housing numbers.
“We’re not going to relent in trying to achieve that goal,” he said on Thursday. “But let’s be clear, tariffs have impacted housing starts right across the world, they’re not unique here in Ontario. We’re not stopping or slowing down.”
The government has not yet published its consolidated housing starts for 2024, which would include basements and long-term care beds.
Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie said the government was to blame for the slow starts.
“I’m appalled for the young people shut out of the housing market, for the families struggling to afford groceries, for the parents seeing no relief for overcrowded classrooms and for the seniors watching healthcare funding shrink while wait times grow,” she said.
The NDP called the government’s annual financial plan a “Band-Aid budget.”
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
