With the rising cost of living, the County of Simcoe will be pursuing a new project aimed at addressing the housing needs of middle-income residents who are struggling with housing affordability, often referred to as the “missing middle”. County Council has authorized staff to move forward with a strategy to address attainable housing across Simcoe County, with the intention of developing a suite of tools that municipalities can use to help address the housing attainability in their communities.
“While our communities remain more affordable than many of our neighbouring jurisdictions, County Council is concerned with the rising cost of living for many of our residents,” said Warden George Cornell. “It is our hope that this project will identify creative solutions to help ease the burden for our residents and offer effective solutions to help our municipalities prioritize the right attainable housing product for our communities.”
Staff at the County of Simcoe have been working with various local municipalities to explore partnership opportunities. The vision for the project is to develop a strategy examining factors that are driving home prices, the range of attainable homes across the region, land use planning supports, and identify what can be done by municipalities to ease the burden on our residents. The project is expected to begin September 2022 and will involve a cross-section of partners in the housing system.
With this new initiative, the County continues to expand the work it offers across the housing spectrum: from transitionary housing and shelter support, to social and affordable housing, to financial assistance with affordable secondary/garden suites and age-friendly renovations, to seniors living and long term care.
The County of Simcoe is composed of sixteen member municipalities and provides crucial public services to County residents in addition to providing paramedic and social services to the separated cities of Barrie and Orillia. Visit our website at simcoe.ca.
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CONTACTS
Andrea Walasek
Public Relations Consultant
County of Simcoe, Service Simcoe Department
249-535-3511 (mobile)
Andrea.Walasek@simcoe.ca
Collin Matanowitsch
Manager, Public Relations
County of Simcoe, Service Simcoe Department
705-734-8386 (mobile)
Collin.Matanowitsch@simcoe.ca
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NEWS RELEASE
COUNTY OF SIMCOE
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