A Mississauga city councillor wants to see more family-sized units included in new high-rises, arguing that the city needs to ensure it’s “actually housing people instead of warehousing people” as it builds up.
Ward One Councillor Stephen Dasko moved a motion at Mississauga City Council last week, asking staff to report back on the feasibility of mandating a minimum number of two-and-three-bedroom units for all newly constructed multi-residential buildings.
The motion also proposes setting a “maximum threshold” for the number of one-bedroom and bachelor units in new developments.
“We are seeing an unprecedented amount of development applications and what I'm starting to see more and more of is just one-bedroom and bachelor units,” Daskto told CP24.com. “You know, I keep hearing this call for more housing and we have such a deficit of housing. But are we looking to house people and have a life for people or warehouse people? If we're looking to build around transit and also where schools and amenities and things like that are, then it would behoove us to look at this from a larger planning point of view.”
Toronto currently requires that at least 15 per cent of the total number of units in new developments contain two bedrooms with another 10 per cent containing at least three bedrooms.
However, no such requirements are currently in place in Mississauga.
Dasko said that in his ward, which includes a number of major high-rise developments along the city’s lakeshore, he has seen some buildings approved with as little as three per cent of its units featuring three or more bedrooms.
He is concerned that if the city doesn’t act now much of its future housing stock could end up being controlled by investors rather than “end users,” leaving few places appropriate for families to settle down in Mississauga.
“Why would you build a significant condominium or an apartment and have, you know, in some cases 72 per cent of your units being studio or one-bedroom units?” he said. “We've got some great communities. But let's add on to those communities as opposed to, you know, chipping away at the fabric of the community.”
Will more supply address affordability concerns?
Mississauga is currently undergoing a significant densification with two new developments in Port Credit and Lakeview alone set to eventually deliver 27,000 new units of housing to the city.
Dasko believes that given the pace of the development underway Mississauga needs to get serious about the make up of high-rise towers and ensuring there are “housing choices for everybody.”
However, at least one advocate is skeptical about whether boosting the supply of larger units will actually make Mississauga affordable for working class families.
“I think when it comes to the housing crisis as a whole there seems to be an overemphasis on the supply side of the issue and I think this proposal fits into that,” Nabeela Irfan, who is a leader with the Peel chapter of The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), told CP24.com this week. “I'm not arguing against building diverse housing whether it's for singles, roommates or families, but I think that the supply side solutions don't address the actual larger issue, which is the affordability crisis. Whether you're new or old or would be renters in the GTA, the big issue is lack of affordable rental options.”
According to a recent report from Rentals.ca, the average month cost of a two-bedroom apartment in Mississauga now stands at $2,555 after rising 18.5 per cent over the last year.
Ownership housing also remains prohibitively expensive for many, with the benchmark price for a condominium apartment in Mississauga hitting $637,100 in November.
Ifran, who lives in a bachelor unit in the city, said that she would like to move out and get a bigger apartment herself but simply can’t afford to.
She doubts that an increase in larger units will actually help people like her.
“Just because now we're going to mandate having two or three bedrooms, you're assuming that this increase in supply is going to magically make it accessible to people but part of access is affordability and we aren't dealing with that,” she said.
Mayor says she shares concerns around lack of larger units
City staff are expected to deliver a report in response to Dasko’s motion in the new year.
In a statement provided to CP24, Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie said that she shares Dasko’s concern “that there are not enough family-sized units being built in our city” and is of an “open mind” when it comes to mandating some minimum standards.
She said that as Mississauga builds up, it’s important that is creates “complete communities, where people and their families can afford to live for generations to come.”
“The last thing we want are towers full of one-bedroom units. While profitable for developers, they don’t help us build out the missing middle and ensure that we have the right housing stock to support our residents as we intensify,” she said. “Having affordable multi-bedroom units also allows over housed homeowners to downsize, putting single-family homes back on the market for those who need the extra space.”
The Ontario government has said that Peel Region as a whole will have to build 145,000 new housing units between now and 2031 to meet its province-wide target of 1.5 million new homes.
