Hamilton City Council’s Audit, Finance, and Administration Committee debated the City’s development charges for new housing on Thursday (June 12), hearing from two delegates from the development industry and one resident on the issue.
The development industry says Hamilton needs to, at least temporarily, reduce development charges while the resident told councillors the underlying problem is the failure of neoliberalism that makes private-market housing dominant instead of non-profit, cooperative, and government housing.
The hearing is a requirement before City Council considers potential amendments to Hamilton’s development charge bylaw in July that could see the City extend demolition credits from five years to ten years, charge two-bedroom or more apartment units the same DC rate as one bedroom units, and slow the phase-out of downtown development incentives.
Even if implemented, Hamilton’s development charges will remain above rates charged by nearby municipalities and will not match the short-term incentives included in Mississauga’s housing action plan. Mississauga’s plan includes significant incentives in exchange for firm, and legally binding, commitments to rent-stabilized apartment units for 25 years after construction.
Mississauga is reporting an increase in site plan approvals, compared to last year, following the implementation of incentives in January.
Housing Development Delegations
Mike Collins-Williams, CEO of the West End Home Builders’ Association, told councillors “the market is in total collapse.”
“Projects across the city and region are on pause as our members are having extreme difficulty launching and selling any units,” he continued. “Layoffs that began first with trades and are now extending into architecture, engineering, planning and dozens of other professions in the new home building industry.”
Hamilton’s development charges “have become untenable,” Collins-Williams said, and the proposed changes are “unfortunately not enough.”
The Builders’ Association “strongly recommends” “temporarily cutting DCs by 50 percent for a two year period, and DCs should be waived in their entirety in downtown for two years to try to get projects moving to avert the worst case scenario.”
Registered Professional Planner Matt Johnston said he doesn’t “believe that the incentives for the two and three bedroom units will have a meaningful impact. The reason I say that is the price per square foot of these units will forever be a barrier to making them viable units.”
Hamilton’s development pipeline is frozen and Council needs to act now, because without action now, there will be a lack of new builds for years to come, he told councillors.
“We had a planning committee with no development approved earlier this week. We had no units approved at planning committee. So it really is stagnant right now.”
Resident Says Neoliberalism is the Problem
Ward 1 resident Ash McKee, who said she lives in the Strathcona neighbourhood, told Council this was her first time ever delegating and that she wanted them to think beyond the status quo.
“I think one of the biggest things that jumps out at me is that the statistic that 95% of the housing in Canada is associated with the private market,” McKee said. “I even heard the term trickle down today and I hope we can appreciate by this point that trickle down actually doesn’t happen. We are 40 years into the neoliberal project, and we’re not seeing that in any substantial way that increases the material well-being of families here in Hamilton.”
“I feel unconvinced that shifting the cost of infrastructure to families is going to actually increase housing supply,” McKee said, adding she doesn’t believe incentives are “going to actually materialise in housing that the people who most need it right now can access.”
Councillors Not Optimistic About Incentives
Ward 9 Councillor Brad Clark said DC incentives are “in essence robbing Peter to pay Paul” because the City will need to find other means of raising revenue.
“We set that money aside so that when that development comes forward, we can pay for the sewers, the pipes, etc., etc. So if we … offset these DCs, we’re still in a lurch because we’re using money.”
Ward 2 Councillor Cameron Kroetsch noted a lot of the language from the development industry in response to incentives is “what I think language folks call potential language. This could help. This may help. This might help. But you’re asking us to take a very, very real step here.”
Finance Chief Warns Revenue Will Need to Be Found Elsewhere
General Manager of Finance and Corporate Services Mike Zegarac noted the City has already made spending commitments based on projected growth.
“Ultimately, it will be homeowners who bear this cost. It’s just a shift in which homeowners are going to bear these costs,” he told councillors. “It’s investors who are forgoing the cost and it’s now getting borne by taxpayers and ratepayers.”
“The intent is to move away from the cost of growth paying for growth and transfer some of that onto existing taxpayers and ratepayers. So whether it’s through property taxes or municipal corporation under a utility model, it’s a shift from homebuyers and investors to existing taxpayers and ratepayers,” Zegarac said.
City Council is expected to vote on possible incentives in July.
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Published: June 15, 2025
Last updated: June 15, 2025
Author: Joey Coleman
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