meeting the housing and support needs of all residents.

Specifically, the Home, Together: Windsor Essex Housing and Homelessness Master Plan under Goal 1: Sustain and Expand Social and Affordable Housing Supply includes the following strategies that are directly related to the Council Question above:

• Strategy 1 – Adjust municipal land use planning regulations and offer incentives to increase the supply of affordable housing; and,

• Strategy 2 – Identify municipal surplus properties and pursue the use for affordable housing developments.

DISCUSSION:

The CQ asks staff to explore the potential incentives that can be offered to encourage the investment in affordable housing both through a possible CIP developed for affordable housing, and through other tools that may be available to municipalities.

As such, the discussion is broken up into two main parts: 1) the incentives and activities that could be offered through an approved Community Improvement Plan; and, 2) the other potential incentives that could be considered to encourage the investment in affordable housing. The first part will look at the possible direct financial incentives that could be considered, and the other activities permitted under the Community Improvement provisions of the Planning Act. The second part of the report discusses some of the other potential incentives available to support affordable housing either under other pieces of legislation or other sections of the Planning Act.

PART 1 – COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT PLAN INCENTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

Section 106 of the Municipal Act prohibits municipalities from directly or indirectly assisting private businesses unless those programs and incentives have been identified within an adopted Community Improvement Plan (CIP). This includes builders and developers that can deliver new affordable housing units to the market.

Section 28 of the Planning Act gives municipalities the ability to prepare CIPs. A Community Improvement Plan is a tool that allows a municipality to take actions to support specific actions, improvements and redevelopment within a specific area, referred to as a Community Improvement Project Area. This can included specific areas of the city, or can be targeted at specific city-wide issues, including affordable housing.

As such, most direct financial incentives that can be made available to potential affordable housing developers would require a CIP to offer them. This section puts forward a number of potential CIP incentive programs and activities that could be considered to encourage the development of affordable housing. For the purposes of carrying out a Community Improvement Plan, a municipality may engage in the