Ford government admits it won't hit 1.5M homes target by 2031
Internal documents show Ontario will fall short of its housing promise, with housing starts actually declining since the 2025 election pledge.
The day's top stories, food & events — every morning at 7. Unsubscribe anytime.
Doug Ford's government has admitted in internal documents that it will not fulfill its 2025 election promise of building 1.5 million new homes by 2031. A handwritten note from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, written between October and December 2024, states "1.5 million homes not reach target, more context." The note adds that there is "not enough time" for Indigenous input and warns to be "careful how [we] promise."
Since the housing promise was made, housing starts have actually dropped in Ontario, down about 3 percent in May compared with the same time last year, according to data from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation. For Toronto specifically, housing starts dropped 12 percent during that time, while the condo market is currently struggling from a glut of inventory and low demand.
From January to May 2026, the province saw 26,084 total housing starts—a fraction of the 175,000 starts per year needed to reach the 1.5-million goal. Put another way, 42 percent of the year has passed, and Ford's government has achieved only 15 percent of its target.
In October 2025, Housing Minister Rob Flack held a press conference on the issue. When asked whether his government could meet its construction promise, Flack said that he was committed to getting shovels in the ground quickly but conceded that conditions were difficult. "We're in a housing crisis. We get it," he said.