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Housing Affordability Task Force (Advocate)

@housingforce.bsky.social
1.5K followers 2.3K following 161 posts

YIMBY trying to hold the government accountable for housing policy failures.

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Reposted by Housing Affordability Task Force (Advocate)
Alex Hemingway @1alexhemingway.bsky.social · 5h
Big cities must do better to fix the housing crisis. We have a severe shortage of homes, yet cities like Vancouver continue to block apartments across most residential areas, driving up the cost of market and non-market homes alike. New from me in the Vancouver Sun vancouversun.com/opinion/op-e...
vancouversun.com
Opinion: B.C.’s big cities must do better to fix the housing crisis
Cities too often use their powers to restrict housing or make it too expensive to build while forcing new housing onto noisy main roads
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Reposted by Housing Affordability Task Force (Advocate)
Vision Zero Vancouver @visionzerovancouver.ca · 3h
The brave people at the "party of public safety" don't care if you die as long as it saves drivers 10 seconds
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Housing Affordability Task Force (Advocate) @housingforce.bsky.social · 3h
Conservatives negatively polarizing themselves into advocating FOR imposing burdensome government regulations that ignore economics and will result in the project being cancelled.
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Reposted by Housing Affordability Task Force (Advocate)
John Michael McGrath @jm-mcgrath.bsky.social · 23h
Spend the Ottawa-QC money on the Calgary-Edmonton HSR
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Vision Zero Vancouver @visionzerovancouver.ca · 06/10/2026
We've gone through all the platforms & past actions, and today we're releasing our final all-in-one-place Vancouver City Council voting guide! Read this if you think vision zero - and all adjacent issues (climate, safety, equity) - should be an election issue. visionzerovancouver.ca/2026/10/03/v...
visionzerovancouver.ca
Vision Zero Vancouver 2026 Voting Guide
We’ve met with the parties running in the Vancouver municipal election and asked them to endorse our 10 first-year asks. We’ve graded the incumbents on 4 years of council votes. Now, we…
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Reposted by Housing Affordability Task Force (Advocate)
Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
READ: “If bike lanes were actually removed today, the premier would lose his scapegoat. How would he then explain worsening motor traffic congestion – an outcome that’s virtually assured given a growing population and his measures to induce driving by making it cheaper…” Via @spacing.bsky.social
spacing.ca
OP-ED: It’s not just about bike lanes - Spacing Toronto
Whether it’s buck-a-beer, easier access to alcohol, or tunnelling under Highway 401, Doug Ford has proven himself to be a master of distraction, diverting attention from his government’s failures and ...
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Housing Affordability Task Force (Advocate) @housingforce.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
I’ve seen a number of conservatives saying that Carney should have imposed burdensome federal regulations upon this private LNG project so that the government could force them to use Canadian steel in the construction regardless of the economics. Flip flop www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/ar...
ctvnews.ca
LNG Canada to import steel from China for $33B project in Kitimat, B.C.
LNG Canada announced it will be using Chinese steel for the upcoming Phase 2 expansion project in Kitimat, B.C.
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Reposted by Housing Affordability Task Force (Advocate)
Lucy Maloney @lucymaloney.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Vehicle crashes are a significant source of preventable injury and death in Vancouver, and traffic-related fatalities have skyrocketed under ABC, who have taken no meaningful steps to improve safety for pedestrians, cyclists, seniors, and schoolchildren. We can change that.
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Michael Ledger-Lomas @michaelledgerlomas.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Mayor Sim calls for 'safe streets', but has done almost nothing to stop deaths like that of the pedestrian killed by a driver at Granville and 52nd this week. If you are a Vancouverite who worries for your family's safety and that of your fellow citizens, vote OneCity + COPE. Evict Ken Sim.
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Reposted by Housing Affordability Task Force (Advocate)
John Muller @mrjohnmuller.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
This is a great step towards a broader recognition of housing as healthcare. It's one of the most cost effective social investments that can be made, since a lack of proper housing is one of the biggest contributing factors towards poor overall health. Really glad to see this, and hope we see more.
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Reposted by Housing Affordability Task Force (Advocate)
Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
To carry 50,000 people per hour in each direction, a city needs a 175m wide road for cars. Even if those cars are electric. And then there’s all the parking. OR a city can move A LOT MORE people in a lot less space, with A LOT LESS public money, emissions, pollution, noise etc. Choices. Simple.
Graphic showing a single lane 9 m wide track for metros, a 35 m wide road for buses with four lanes, and a 175 m wide road for cars with seven lanes, making the point that one single track of Metro replaces seven lanes of car traffic. Mobility in cities is about space.
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Reposted by Housing Affordability Task Force (Advocate)
John Michael McGrath @jm-mcgrath.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Ah yes the sanctity of Toronto's non-partisan municipal elections, where arguably the most important pro-housing voice on council is going to struggle to get re-elected against a replacement-level former Liberal MP
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Shawn Micallef @shawnmicallef.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
So much respect for this, and the framing. ABC, the right wing version of Progress Toronto, has used health care workers/hospitals as reason to rip them out. This puts a lie to that (and on University ambulances can bypass cars in the wide bikelanes if needed). So many lies.
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Housing Affordability Task Force (Advocate) @housingforce.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
👇💯💯💯💯💯💯💯
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Colleen @cbailey6.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Don't forget that this was the handpicked Chair of Ontario's housing "plan" implementation team. In case you are wondering how we got here. news.ontario.ca/en/release/1...
To help communities across Ontario build more attainable homes, Ontario is also launching the Housing Supply Action Plan Implementation Team (HSAPIT). HSAPIT will provide advice on market housing initiatives, including building on the vision from the Housing Affordability Task Force, More Homes for Everyone and other government consultations. The government intends to appoint Drew Dilkens, Mayor of the City of Windsor, as Chair and Cheryl Fort, Mayor of the Township of Hornepayne, as the Vice Chair. The other Team members will be selected in the coming weeks, with the first meeting scheduled for early fall
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Grow Together Edmonton @growtogetheryeg.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
In Edmonton, our zoning bylaw has enabled thousands of homes in our central neighbourhoods, with relatively little redevelopment. Despite exagerations about ruining the neighbourhood from anti-infill groups, only a sliver of all properties in the small-scale residential zone have been redeveloped.
Line chart showing homes permitted by neighbourhood type and project type from H1 building permits, 2009-2026Stacked bar chart showing RS Zone redevelopment in Edmonton from Jan 2024 to Sep 2026. Three bars represent 2024 (0.45%), 2025 (1.07%), and 2026 (1.55%) redevelopment rates against ~140,000 total RS-zoned properties. Dark navy dominates each bar (not redeveloped), with thin colored segments above showing project types: single detached, addition/conversion, backyard house, duplex to fourplex, fiveplex to eightplex, 9+ row house, and 9+ apartment. Data from Jacob Dawang, City of Edmonton Open Data.
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Housing Affordability Task Force (Advocate) @housingforce.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
He would be using those powers as Ford intended, to block housing and promote more urban sprawl.
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Ned Resnikoff @resnikoff.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
"In the states examined in this analysis, a drop of approximately 20% in inflation-adjusted rents—as happened in Austin, Texas, and Minneapolis after those cities made reforms—could reduce poverty by 18% to 26% and child poverty by 21% to 38%." www.pew.org/en/research-...
pew.org
The Housing Shortage Is a Major Driver of Poverty
Housing costs are usually the largest item in a household’s budget and can determine a family’s financial stability.
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Oliver Moore @oliver-moore.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
All those Toronto drivers who shouted about bike lanes' [non-existent] effect on emergency vehicles will no doubt throw their support behind congestion pricing. Right?
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Housing Affordability Task Force (Advocate) @housingforce.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I have spent zero time pondering why rent is lower in Edmonton than in Halifax and I don’t want anyone to explain it to me. Instead I’m going to invent “non-market housing you can buy”, that will be subject to the same land use policies that make housing expensive to build.
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Reposted by Housing Affordability Task Force (Advocate)
Paris Marx @parismarx.com · 28/09/2026
The lie that privatization will reduce wait times is already being exposed, but that won’t stop political leaders from continuing to try to destroy our public healthcare system.
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Andrew Longhurst 🇨🇦 🍉 @alonghurst.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
The Ontario government is aggressively privatizing surgeries and medical imaging—core hospital services My new @policyalternatives.ca research study evaluates whether this policy direction reduces wait times and serves the public interest www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc... #onpoli
policyalternatives.ca
Not adding up: Surgical and diagnostic privatization in Ontario | CCPA
The Ontario government favours for-profit delivery of surgeries and medical imaging, but the evidence shows this isn't good health policy
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Reposted by Housing Affordability Task Force (Advocate)
Mike Schreiner @mikeschreiner.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Removing bike lanes is not going to help congestion. This government is spending millions of dollars making roads less safe and removing infrastructure, rather than building for the future.
spacing.ca
EXCLUSIVE: Inside the contract to rip out Toronto's bike lanes - Spacing Toronto
After the Ontario Court of Appeal (ONCA) shot down CycleTO’s legally innovative charter challenge that sought to stop Doug Ford’s attack on the city’s bike lanes, Queen’s Park wasted little time befor...
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Housing Affordability Task Force (Advocate) @housingforce.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
What do I think about “blanket” zoning? Like, when you only allow detached single family homes in residential neighborhoods? I think blanket zoning like that limits choice and overall housing supply, pushing up rents, forcing people to live farther away from work so they lose out on family time.
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Reposted by Housing Affordability Task Force (Advocate)
Colleen @cbailey6.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Finally, a Premier with the courage to ask: do people really need housing *in* the cities where their jobs are? Why not simply commute for three hours a day so that Christine can continue to imagine she lives in a small village?
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Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
An elderly couple doesn't like the new housing going up next door. So what? This is not news. They'll suffer minor inconvenience. But no one is forcing them to move. And they have the freedom to sell their big multimillion-dollar house and live comfortably elsewhere.
cbc.ca
Toronto needs more homes. These neighbours say they're paying the price | CBC News
An elderly downtown couple says they’re shocked and upset that the city has approved a duplex next door to their three-story Victorian home that they say will tower metres above their chimney and rend...
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Reposted by Housing Affordability Task Force (Advocate)
Kevin Wilson @kwilsonhfx.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
“Before taxpayers are asked to spend more, we should seriously consider whether there is a better approach," says Kevin Wilson following news that the suburbs cost more to operate than they generate in revenue.
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Reposted by Housing Affordability Task Force (Advocate)
Eric Lombardi (EricForOLP.ca) @ericlombardi.ca · 25/09/2026
It's time to end Ontario's era of "Tall and Sprawl". Our archaic building code rules have resulted in housing that is uglier, more expensive, and with fewer units that make sense for families. By changing the rules, we can build communities more beautifully and affordably.
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Housing Affordability Task Force (Advocate) @housingforce.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
“we have to figure out what are the trade-offs between providing more density, versus being sensitive and respectful to existing homeowners.” This is wrong. We need to force people to consider the trade offs from blocking housing and how that causes homelessness. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
cbc.ca
Toronto needs more homes. These neighbours say they're paying the price | CBC News
An elderly downtown couple says they’re shocked and upset that the city has approved a duplex next door to their three-story Victorian home that they say will tower metres above their chimney and rend...
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Reposted by Housing Affordability Task Force (Advocate)
Max Fawcett @maxfawcett.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Donald Trump's "deal" with Belarus on potash was an obvious (and empty) bluff. And yet, Pierre Poilievre's MPs were more than willing to believe it -- and blame the federal government and a non-existent carbon tax instead. #cdnpoli www.nationalobserver.com/2026/09/23/o...
nationalobserver.com
Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives can’t wait to buy Trump’s bullshit
Donald Trump's latest economic threat involves replacing Canada's potash with imports from Belarus. The official opposition decided to blame ... the carbon tax?
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The Biking Lawyer LLP @thebikinglawyer.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Bike lane removals near Islington on Bloor are imminent. Keep up the vigilance. Keep up the direct action. #StrengthinNumbers #CriticalMass @cycletoronto.bsky.social @jnyyz.bsky.social @lanrickbennett.bsky.social @tomflood.bsky.social
cyclists on bridge in huge crowd protesting
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Reposted by Housing Affordability Task Force (Advocate)
Colleen @cbailey6.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
People saying that the province removing speed cameras is just a sign that we should be doing more road safety measures like pedestrian bumpouts and modal filters are technically correct. But also presumably the response of someone who has never tried to get the City to do any of these things.
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John Michael McGrath @jm-mcgrath.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
We let national immigration policy be thwarted by the median council votes in Toronto and Vancouver and it's nuts to me that's not how this is understood.
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Colleen @cbailey6.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
How many times am I allowed to repost something?
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Jacob Loo Dawang @jacobdawang.com · 22/09/2026
With respect, if this is the extent of housing supply policies, Toronto council is so cooked. It's like a throwback to the 2010s where the same ignorance of supply created the housing crisis. Toronto needs a new plan for the future and it has to include, but be more than affordable housing.
More affordable housing, built faster and community-owned.

    Expand resources to community land trusts, non-profit and supportive housing, and require real affordability in new development on public land.
    Prioritize all Ward 11 development applications that include affordable housing.
    Use available funding and financial incentives as a means for achieving policy objectives, including family-size units, in addition to affordability.
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Colleen @cbailey6.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
A number of good ideas but I want councillors to admit that the Official Plan plays a big role here. Too many councillors are content to pretend our development patterns are a law of nature. No. They are a result of not being able to build apartments in half the city. Let's redo the plan.
Educate renters and ensure compliance to Rental Renovation License Bylaw.
Secure fair compensation for rental replacement.
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Michael Wiebe @michaelwiebe.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Vancouver has a housing shortage because it prioritized maintaining its single-family neighborhood character. blog.michaelwiebe.com/p/how-vancou...
blog.michaelwiebe.com
How Vancouver planned a housing shortage
The city put neighbourhood character first and housing supply second
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Grow Together Edmonton @growtogetheryeg.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Rowhomes for young families in the places they want to live - that's what Edmonton's infill policy is delivering. #yeg #yegcc #yimby
Infill rowhome in hazeldean. A kid plays in the grass while a parent sits on the steps.
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Peter Waldkirch 華彼德 @pwaldkirch.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Ken Sim & ABC released their platform...and they say NOTHING at all about housing. It's a great example of how local government has squandered this opportunity to take action on our housing shortage. This sort of inaction is just setting the stage for next jump in prices & rent.
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Housing Affordability Task Force (Advocate) @housingforce.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Daniel Smith looking for the person who inflicted indignities on Albertans.
Daniel Smith is actually the person responsible for indignities suffered by Albertans but she won’t accept responsibility for her poor governance of the province.  Therefore she blames the Federal government for her own failures.
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Reposted by Housing Affordability Task Force (Advocate)
Kevin Wilson @kwilsonhfx.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
"Can accept immigration" is going to be an economic super power for countries to have in the middle to late 21st century. I mean, it always has been, but even more so.
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Housing Affordability Task Force (Advocate) @housingforce.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
The Seattle times can not hear that.
static.klipy.com
Jim Carrey as Lloyd: Annoying Sound
ALT: Jim Carrey as Lloyd: Annoying Sound
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Peter Waldkirch 華彼德 @pwaldkirch.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
The defeat of Vancouver’s Villages Plan is a major setback for addressing our housing crisis and appears to mark the end of the Vancouver Plan, which has been the main focus of our planning department since 2018. Read more in my first piece for Sightline!
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Housing Affordability Task Force (Advocate) @housingforce.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I was led to believe that the only reason rent is expensive is because landlords are greedy. So, Edmonton landlords must just be built different.
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Jacob Loo Dawang @jacobdawang.com · 18/09/2026
Part of the story is not just the outcome of lowest rent among major Canadian cities, but also the how and where. Through zoning reform, we're adding more homes in central mature neighbourhoods, near transit.
"Stacked area chart showing H1 building permits issued in Edmonton from 2009 to 2026, broken down by four neighborhood types (Downtown, Mature, Between Mature and Henday, and Outside Henday) and seven project types (Single detached, Addition/Conversion, Backyard House, Duplex to Fourplex, Fiveplex to Eightplex, 9+ Row House, and 9+ Apartment). Downtown shows minimal permits throughout the period. Mature neighborhoods peak at over 3,000 permits in 2024, dominated by single-detached homes. Between Mature and Henday and Outside Henday neighborhoods show more volatile trends, with Outside Henday reaching nearly 4,000 permits in 2023. Single-detached homes (dark purple) comprise the largest share across most neighborhoods and years, while apartment and row house projects (orange tones) remain a smaller but consistent portion."
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Housing Affordability Task Force (Advocate) @housingforce.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Whenever there is confusion between two groups, I find the best way to clear things up is to unpack definitions. Have everyone state clearly their definitions of words being used to make sure both sides have the same definition for that word. Like the word “mandate” for example. Random thought
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Colleen @cbailey6.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
"But some new polling data suggests what most riders really want is something else entirely: better service." 52% of Toronto residents said more frequent and reliable service would get them to use the TTC more, vs 19% worried about personal safety or 9% who said lower fares would bring them back.
thestar.com
Matt Elliott: Why are Olivia Chow and Brad Bradford ignoring what Toronto TTC riders actually want?
A Liaison Strategies poll of 1,000 Toronto residents reveals 52 per cent want better TTC service, not just fare freezes or more police.
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Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
“Where are the protests against Ontario’s attacks on Toronto cycling?” Right there!
youtube.com
Cyclists rally against downtown bike lane removal
YouTube video by CityNews
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Housing Affordability Task Force (Advocate) @housingforce.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
The publicly listed REITs all have disclosures to investors that state major risks to their revenue, which includes governments allowing more housing construction that would add competition and drive down rents.
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The Local Magazine @thelocal.to · 11/09/2026
When she was fifteen, Diana Chan McNally was homeless. Today, the frontline worker and activist is running for city council in Parkdale–High Park. New from @emmapaling.bsky.social: thelocal.to/diana-chan-m...
thelocal.to
Toronto’s Most Well-Known Defender of Homeless Encampments Runs for Council | The Local
As a teenager, Diana Chan McNally was briefly homeless. She’s since worked in drop-in centres and become a prominent advocate for homeless people. In the race for Parkdale-High Park, she’s going to ne...
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