Ontario’s Housing Targets Are Slipping Away, And the Ford Government Won’t Admit It

Ontario’s housing crisis is no longer a looming threat it’s here. And the Ford government’s dream of building 1.5 million new homes by 2031 is quickly turning into a fantasy.

The latest numbers from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation paint a bleak picture. From January to July 2025, just 33,821 new homes broke ground across Ontario, a stunning 25 percent drop from the same period last year. That puts the province not just behind schedule but heading in the wrong direction. While Ontario stumbles, other regions are moving forward: Quebec’s housing starts are up 38 percent, Atlantic Canada up 16 percent, and even the Prairies are showing a healthy 24 percent increase. Only British Columbia is slightly down and still nowhere near Ontario’s level of stagnation.

Toronto, the engine of Ontario’s housing market, is at the heart of the crisis. Condo construction once the city’s signature strength has “plummeted,” according to the CMHC. Presales are at their lowest since 2009. Potential buyers have, as Housing Minister Rob Flack admits, “hit the pause button,” and the market has “come to a standstill.”

Yet the Ford government still refuses to level with the public. When asked if the 1.5 million-home target remains realistic, the housing minister’s office offered only talking points about “accelerating development” and “global economic uncertainties.” There was no straight answer, because the truth is obvious: the goal is slipping out of reach.

Blaming “global supply chains” or even “President Trump’s tariffs” (a stretch, to say the least) is cold comfort to the families crushed by rising rents and impossible home prices. For years, Doug Ford has said that “governments don’t build homes,” while pushing the responsibility onto municipalities and dismissing expert advice to expand housing options. That strategy is failing  and Ontarians are paying the price.

The province needed bold action and accountability. Instead, we get excuses and silence. It’s time for the Ford government to stop pretending the 1.5 million-home target is alive and start explaining how it will actually get shovels in the ground. Because right now, Ontario’s housing plan is little more than a broken promise.