Housing Needs Assessment

This survey is designed to gather insights from residents like you, helping us to identify gaps in housing availability and affordability. By sharing your lived experiences, you will play a vital role in shaping future housing policies, development projects, and community services that better serve the residents of Lakeshore. Your feedback is essential in identifying gaps in housing and ensuring that the Municipality can address the needs of current and future residents. 

Why Your Feedback Matters 

• Community Impact: Your responses will guide the Municipality in creating housing strategies that reflect the needs and preferences of our diverse population. 

• Identifying Needs: We aim to highlight specific housing challenges faced by various groups within the community, ensuring that solutions are inclusive and equitable.
• Future Planning: The information collected will inform decisions on zoning, development, and investment in local infrastructure. 

This survey is expected to take approximately 10 minutes to complete, and your honest answers are highly valued. We do not collect personal information on this outside of some demographic questions. All responses are anonymous, so please do not provide any personal information in the response boxes. 
 
Information on this form is collected under the authority of the Municipal Act, 2001, S.O. 2001. Feedback, with identifying information removed, may be included in reports, as well as Council Meeting agendas and minutes, which become part of the public record and are posted on www.lakeshore.ca. 

The survey will open at 12 noon on October 29, 2024 and close at 11:59 pm on Monday, March 3, 2025.

Housing Accelerator Fund

In 2023, the federal government launched the $4-billion Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF), which provides funding to local governments to support initiatives that remove barriers to housing supply, accelerate the growth of supply and support the development of equitable, affordable, low-carbon and climate-resilient communities. The HAF is an application-based program administered by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). HAF funding can be used to invest in Housing Accelerator Fund Action Plans, affordable housing, housing-related infrastructure (such as drinking water, and wastewater), and community-related infrastructure that supports housing (such as roads and sidewalks).

Background

• Council adopted the draft Housing Action Plan at the August 15, 2023 meeting. The document sets out goals and objectives related to housing in Lakeshore.
• At the special meeting on September 3, 2024, Council took action on housing by committing to pass a Zoning By-law Amendment that would permit four units “as-of-right" on residential properties.