The Ontario Liberal party announced it intends to introduce a single rent control system across the province should it win the upcoming provincial election. In all, the plan includes nearly forty housing policies the Liberals say will make “buying, renting, and living in a home” easier and more affordable for Ontarians.

“The Ford Conservatives ended rent control to help their well-connected friends, making renters’ lives unpredictable and less affordable each year,” the official plan states. “We’ll prevent sudden rent hikes by reinstating rent control everywhere in Ontario – putting an end to the two-tiered rental market and providing much-needed stability to renters.”

It will also enforce larger fines for persistently negligent landlords, and punish those who choose to keep their rental homes vacant; international owners would pay a five per cent tax, while domestic owners would pay a two per cent tax.

Other housing promises include increasing the supply of deeply affordable homes by 138,000 and building 78,000 new units of social or community housing. The Liberals estimate that the construction work associated with these new buildings would employ 150,000 people per year.

“It’s hard to have a conversation these days without hearing about the skyrocketing cost of housing,” said Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca. “The fact is, it’s getting harder and harder for people to live in the neighbourhoods they grew up in. Our Ontario Liberal plan will double the pace of homebuilding next year, and keep that pace going until we’ve built 1.5 million new homes on places like poorly used stripmalls, land held for speculation, and available government properties.”

Other key party promises:

– Cutting Ontario’s carbon pollution in half by 2030, and expanding the Greenbelt and provincial parks;

– scrapping the proposed Highway 413 and using the savings to build new schools and repair existing ones;

– allocating $1 billion toward clearing surgical backlogs and lowering wait times in Ontario hospitals;

– creating a universal workplace benefits package for contract workers that includes 10 paid sick days and drug, vision and dental care;

– raising the minimum wage to $16 an hour and boosting disability payments by 20 per cent;

– lowering transit fare to $1 per ride until 2024 and bringing back Grade 13 for students negatively impacted by COVID-19.

For more, visit: www.ontarioliberal.ca