Northern Ontario Housing Summit held in Sudbury Tuesday

The first Northern Ontario Housing Summit took place in Sudbury on Tuesday at the Holiday Inn.

The day included keynote presentations and networking opportunities put on by the Sudbury & District Home Builders Association and the Ontario Home Builders Association.

“We've brought together suppliers and builders and government representatives to talk about different, innovative ways that we can tackle not just housing in general, but housing specifically in northern Ontario and the specific types of housing people in northern Ontario need,” said Scott Andison, CEO of the Ontario Home Builders Association.

The event featured panels including one with Sudbury Mayor Paul Lefebvre and Scott Aitchison, Conservative MP and federal housing critic.

“We need to do a better job of speeding up the approvals process and getting built what we need to get built,” Aitchison said.

“Frankly, the solution to the housing crisis in Canada and in northern Ontario is less government. I hear common themes everywhere I go about the challenges that there are to build and the cost of building, the delays at the city, you know, the approvals process right now in our country is broken. It just takes too long to get permission to build a home. And that's wrong. And it should be faster.”

An official with Enbridge, which sponsored the event, said they're proud to support initiatives that promote responsible growth and community engagement.

“What we are really focused on is making sure that Enbridge stays as part of that solution as we decarbonize,” said Susan Cudhy, Enbridge’s supervisor of strategic building relations for the residential new construction team.

o    Download our app to get local alerts on your device

o    Get the latest local updates right to your inbox

“More importantly, that we're there with the Ontario home builders as they build those homes and we can provide the resiliency and the affordability that's required for people not only to be able to afford to buy the home, but to operate it in the long run.”

The housing summit is one of several happening across the province this year. Organizers said the hope is to make it an annual event.