Financial incentives to entice development, which to date have largely been provided in the form of grants, are subject to the legislative provisions of the Municipal and Planning Acts. There is a budgetary cost associated with enforcement services as well as program delivery which would require a direct funding source.

Consultations:

Sonia Bajaj, Coordinator of Housing Administration and Development

Wira Vendrasco, Deputy City Solicitor – Legal and Real Estate

Conclusion:

The City has maintained a comprehensive affordable housing strategy since the first release of the Windsor Essex Housing and Homeless Plan in 2014. To date, like other comparable municipalities, this strategy has not included specific plans for affordable student housing. Students present different motivations, hindrances and economic considerations than low-income residents when pursuing housing that are more appropriately addressed by post-secondary institutions than municipal housing systems. Incentivising these institutions is challenging as the revenues the City usually offers to forego to encourage specific development – i.e. property taxes and development charges – are not paid by colleges or universities. No legislative mechanisms exist for the City to compel post-secondary institutions to provide affordable housing, or any housing at all, to the students they attract, nor has the Province put any such legislation in place.

Options for residential rental licensing have been presented to Council in previous reports but Council has decided not to adopt them. Pursuing a pilot program in an area based on the presumed age of its residents (i.e. students) has been successfully challenged previously as discriminatory and by Ontario Human Rights Commission. Instead of building licensing regimes which could increase housing costs and reduce the available housing supply during a period of exceptionally low vacancy and affordability, programs focusing on education and increasing the City’s capacity to enforce existing by-laws have been pursued. Because inspectors and enforcement officers must prove their charges in court, education and the cooperation that comes with it are vital to securing the lawful right of entry that successful prosecutions rely on. Administration continues to work with students, landlords and post-secondary