22 April 2019

In addition to it, a longer construction period will lead to more expenses and this increase will be passed over on the consumers’ shoulders.

Toronto already faces the issue of slow real estate delivery, mostly because the approval process can take several years instead of the desirable several months. The city is already trying to cope with the affordability problem, and such rules can even worsen the situation.

“The condominium market is, honestly, one of the more affordable variants”, – said Scott McLellan, senior vice president of Plaza Corp. “However, when you increase the load like this, it will certainly raise the construction expenses, and the affordability issue will become even sharper”.

With the latest wave of cancelled condo projects in the Greater Toronto Area, excessive strict regulations concerning the construction sector may lead to more cancellations.

“We worry about cancelling projects, and the more delay there is at the beginning point (whether it’s caused by the market decline or by more red tape), the more chances of cancelled projects we have in case builders don’t meet their goals and timings”, – he noted. “Each time we implement more regulations, it affects the affordability level. The additional costs lay on buyers, and is it what we want? No, neither we, nor the consumers wants it”.