Ford doubles down on refusal to allow fourplexes provincewide

Premier Doug Ford doubled down Wednesday on his refusal to force municipalities to allow fourplexes on residential land, a move that could jeopardize Ontario's access to billions of dollars in federal housing funds.

«It's not up to the province to dictate where every single building is going to go,» Ford told reporters during an unrelated morning news conference in Vaughan.

«I believe in letting municipalities determine what is good for their communities and what is not good for their communities,» he added.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government has earmarked $6 billion in new money for infrastructure to help provinces and territories tackle the national housing crisis. Most of that funding, however, will come with conditions.

Chief among them is that provinces require municipalities to allow the development of four-unit residential dwellings, in some cases up to four-storeys tall, «as of right» — meaning no bylaw amendment would be required for construction or conversion to move forward.

Some Queen's Park observers speculated such a measure might be included in the province's forthcoming housing bill, which is expected to be tabled in the coming weeks. But just days before Ford presented his 2024 budget on March 26, he shot down the idea.

Ford told reporters during a stop in Hamilton communities would «lose their minds» and «wouldn't stop screaming» if fourplexes were permitted as of right provincewide.

Ford's previous comments drew backlash from federal Housing Minister Sean Fraser, who said that «Ontario had an opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to build more homes and take the housing crisis seriously» but instead «chose red tape and the status quo.»

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