Searching for Solutions
As a former mayor of a mid-size city in Canada, I had a first hand account of the rise in social issues facing communities across North America. Searching for Solutions is about examining issues such as the housing crisis, homelessness, mental health, addictions and food insecurity to find disruptive solutions that are having a real impact. Each episode looks at an issue and features a guest that guides us through a problem to a solution. A great resource for people in communities looking how to make a difference at a time when many people are feeling helpless.
Searching for Solutions
Can municipal housing targets be a tool to get more homes built?
St. Catharines Mayor Mat Siscoe was one of the first municipalities in Ontario to set an ambitious target to build 11,000 homes over the next decade. Understanding that houses are not built by municipalities, what is the reason for setting housing targets?
On this episode of Searching for Solutions, Mayor Siscoe explains how housing targets by municipalities can be used as a tool to accelerate the number of new homes being built in a community and how it can be a tool to encourage Council and staff to make key decisions to remove obstacles and create incentives to achieve ambitious housing targets.