Brant County adopts 10-year roadmap to address housing needs and affordability crisis

Casandra Turnbull

Managing Editor

Brant County Council has endorsed a comprehensive housing needs assessment and adopted a 10-year strategic roadmap aimed at tackling housing affordability, supply, and diversity across the municipality.

Presented at the June 24 council meeting by Brandon Kortleve, the County’s manager of policy planning, the final Housing Needs Assessment—prepared by Watson & Associates Economists Ltd.—outlines the urgent need for 2,455 new housing units by 2035. Of those, 430 must be rental units, and at least 28 per cent must be affordable.

“This plan was needed to support the Official Plan and fulfill federal funding requirements,” Kortleve told council. 

The report identifies key housing challenges in Brant County, including an overreliance on low-density, detached housing. Currently, 85 per cent of the housing stock is low-density, which the County plans to rebalance over time by increasing medium- and high-density options.

While 7,700 housing units have already been approved, they remain unbuilt. If constructed, they would represent 53 per cent low-density (single detached homes), 18 per cent medium-density (such as townhouses), and 29 per cent high-density units (apartment buildings). Kortleve said this approved pipeline technically satisfies the county’s long-term need but emphasized that meeting the community’s changing needs requires more than just numbers.

Key themes of the report include affordability, availability, accessibility and housing diversity. To address these, the County developed a phased 10-year implementation plan, broken down into short-, medium- and long-term goals. Eight strategic directions were identified, including closing the affordable housing gap, expanding the housing mix, addressing infrastructure limitations, and streamlining the development approval process.

Short-term priorities (2025) include:

• Establishing annual housing targets;

• Creating 70 new affordable units per year;

• Capping the share of single detached homes to 50 per cent in new subdivisions in Paris and St. George, unless accessory residential units (ARUs) are included;

• Launching an education campaign on gentle density to dispel public misconceptions.

“We will be tracking that so there can be regular reporting and transparency,” said Kortleve, who expressed enthusiasm for exploring ARUs as a cost-effective entry point for younger residents.

Medium-term goals (2026–2030) include:

• Finalizing an affordable housing strategy;

• Evaluating incentive tools and a rental registry;

• Launching a Community Planning Permit System;

• Building internal staff capacity.

Long-term actions (2031–2035) focus on:

• Delivering non-market housing in partnership with other levels of government;

• Leveraging municipal land for affordable housing;

• Updating the Housing Needs Assessment in 2031.

• Council discussion focused heavily on implementation challenges.

Coun. Steve Howes questioned how the County could influence the housing mix of the 7,700 already-approved but unbuilt units. Kortleve noted approvals are not necessarily permanent and that there are “tools in our toolbox,” though altering approvals may trigger appeals to the Ontario Land Tribunal.

“We need to consider carrots—providing incentives to shift direction,” he said, adding that the County maintains good working relationships with local developers.

Coun. Robert Chambers raised concerns about public pushback to high-density proposals, noting they often spark opposition from neighbouring property owners.

Crucial communication early in the planning process is key, responded Kortleve. He added that council and county staff need to stay aligned with the concepts in this housing plan.

Coun. John Peirce echoed concerns about limiting detached housing without incentivizing developers, warning that any deviation from developer preferences could lead to costly OLT appeals.

Kortleve replied that while financial incentives are on the table, the County is also exploring non-financial levers—such as servicing allocations and construction timing—to encourage a more balanced housing mix.

In the end, council unanimously endorsed the final report and adopted the roadmap as a foundational strategy for guiding housing policy in the coming decade. Staff were directed to prepare reporting and implementation materials for 2025 action items.