Ontario’s population growth and the data mess

Toronto’s unprecedented growth  

Recently, The Centre for Urban Research (CUR) published a blog by Frank Clayton and Yagnic Patel highlighting Toronto’s remarkable population growth in 2023, outperforming all other Canadian and U.S. cities. While the growth has helped to prop up the economy, it’s also put tremendous strain on housing, infrastructure, and services. This surge in population underscores the urgent need for housing and associated infrastructure to meet the rising demand.

According to the CUR report, eight of the top ten fastest-growing central cities in 2023 were in Canada. To put it in perspective, the city of Toronto added 125,756 people to its population (the metro area added 221,588 people) in 2023. In contrast, the top American city, San Antonio, added only 21,970 people.

How can we possibly build enough housing and associated infrastructure to meet this demand? 

Every day, reports emphasize the severity of Ontario’s housing crisis. Both the city and the province face significant obstacles in meeting housing supply goals, from lengthy development approval processes to fragmented data management, not to mention inflation, mortgage rates, and skilled trades shortages – both on the regulatory side and the industry side. One Ontario - powered by LandLogic - is ready to help on the data and process side, one of the biggest bottlenecks in getting projects approved.   

━━

Research shows that there needs to be a structured, queryable and unified dataset around which all parties can operate.

Recognizing the data mess 

One of the biggest challenges that was identified through the One Ontario project and our previous research is the overwhelming lack of harmonized data across Ontario’s regulatory framework, which results in many challenges. The Ontario government publicly acknowledges the data problems with a recent statement from the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing mentioning that the province doesn't track housing data as well as it should. This data fragmentation complicates compliance, increases costs, and slows development.

The problem with property data across municipalities, conservation authorities, and various government agencies is multi-faceted:

• Unstructured data: Property data is often not in a standardized format, making it difficult to manage and analyze.

• Disparate formats: Different cities and government authorities use various data formats, complicating data integration and collective analysis.

• Scattered information: Data is dispersed across countless websites, requiring extensive effort to gather all necessary information for just one property.

Although some entities, including software vendors, thrive in the quagmire by offering services to navigate the mess, none do so in a holistic way. In fact, many add to the complexity slowing home building and driving up costs. If we want to solve this issue that clearly impacts housing development, something needs to be done.

Our research shows that there needs to be a structured, queryable and unified dataset around which all parties can operate. A centralized database that provides standardized and accessible property data is crucial for efficient decision-making and regulatory compliance.

The role of One Ontario

The One Ontario solution was designed to provide jurisdictional clarity to the development community. But as we unlocked the data, we found it could support many stakeholders involved in land assessment and development, including regulators, developers, and planners.

One of the key breakthroughs has been the effort to digitize municipal zoning, official plans, and secondary plans, and put that information into a single database that can be queried. We’ve done a proof-of-concept project in the City of Toronto, demonstrating the effectiveness of fully digitized zoning information and are now looking for pilots with other forward-thinking municipalities. The initiative is ready for industry testing, and One Ontario invites industry leaders across the development community, including municipalities, to work on pilots to showcase the value of a structured, queryable and unified database.

The importance of acting now

The recent report from the CUR emphasizes the pressing need for immediate action. The disparity in urban growth patterns between Canada and the U.S. highlights the success of Canadian cities in attracting and accommodating new residents. To sustain this growth, there is a drastic need for improved housing and infrastructure. Reach out to info@landlogic.ai to get involved.