Sault Ste. Marie exploring housing shortage solutions

The City of Sault Ste. Marie is exploring ways to increase housing supply in the city in an effort to bring down costs.

Staff are studying a pair of ideas put forward by city council.

Sault Ste. Marie city coun. Angela Caputo. March 28/23 (Mike McDonald/CTV Northern Ontario)

One of those ideas is a vacant property tax, which was brought to the table by Coun. Angela Caputo, who sits on the newly formed Affordable Housing Task Force.

Caputo said it was the sight of boarded-up houses that prompted her to bring the idea forward.

"I just wanted to put something forward to try and give a little nudge to the property owners to open these homes up," she said.

"A lot of our residents really need a place to live and affordable housing is definitely one of the most important things that we're discussing right now."

Another idea being looked at is a grant program for non-profit organizations and churches that have underutilized land that could be used for affordable housing.

This model is used by the City of Barrie and Sault city staff are looking into whether this idea can be put into practice in the north.

The 'Affordable Housing Task Force' is preparing a feasibility study for the grant program and the vacant property tax and will report to city council at a later date.