As Ontario struggles to reach home building goal, new bill could speed up development [Video]

Ontario’s housing minister says he will introduce legislation this week to speed up new home construction, a move that comes as the Ford government struggles to meet its goal of building 1.5 million homes.

Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Rob Flack offered some hints Thursday about the legislation, which will be unveiled the same week the province will release the provincial budget. The minister said the bill will speed up the municipal permitting process for housing and lower costs for developers.

Flack is set to make an announcement Monday morning in Vaughan with Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy, Infrastructure Minister Kinga Surma and Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria.

“We’ve got headwinds in our economy,” Flack told reporters at Queen’s Park. “We need bold initiatives, and we have to build faster. We’re looking at the cost of housing today. It takes too long and it costs too much to get shovels in the …