What we heard

A summary of Ontarians' ideas related to community life.

One of Canada’s greatest assets is its international reputation as one of the best countries in the world in which to live.
Subcategory Your ideas

Housing
24ideas
  • Invest in affordable housing (6 ideas)
  • Abolish public housing, replace with a rent subsidy (2 ideas)
  • Regulate excessive rent and maintenance fees
  • Emulate Australia’s approach to real estate and rental housing legislation
  • Encourage the private sector to build new rental units
  • Create a minimum ownership period for housing in Ontario
  • Eliminate Above Guideline Increases
  • Ensure affordable housing and accessible transit are developed in tandem
  • Charge renters an infrastructure improvement tax
  • Fund expiring federal rental assistance for low income households
  • Enforce price controls on housing in the GTHA
  • Replace public housing with a monthly cash grant
  • Encourage use of concrete instead of wood by homebuilders
  • Reduce housing costs for vulnerable Ontarians
  • Reintroduce rent control
  • Convert closed public schools into affordable housing
  • Require developers to build affordable housing
  • Provide regular and sustained funding to providers of non-profit housing

Planning and development
18ideas
  • Encourage dense development in more areas (5 ideas)
  • Encourage walkable neighbourhoods (2 ideas)
  • Reform OMB to lessen the influence of developers (2 ideas)
  • Increase protections for greenbelts and parkland
  • Require architectural competitions for any building exceeding zoned height restrictions
  • Encourage growth and development outside Toronto
  • Create high density, mixed income affordable housing in Toronto
  • Encourage sustainable development and public transit
  • Tax developers who benefit from approved increases in density
  • Revitalize the southern shore of Lake Simcoe
  • Clarify and strengthen provincial development policy
  • Protect abandoned heritage properties

Immigration
10ideas
  • Reduce spending on refugees (2 ideas)
  • Encourage immigrants to settle in smaller cities and towns (2 ideas)
  • Deport criminal refugees and immigrants
  • Treat all refugees the same, support and settle them
  • Give illegal immigrants ways of applying for permanent residency
  • Reduce immigration
  • Don't favour immigrants over Canadian-born residents
  • Establish an employment agency to help connect immigrants to jobs

Local government
7ideas
  • Undo the damage of Toronto’s amalgamation
  • Increase municipalities' ability to collect revenue
  • Hold municipal elections every three years
  • Create a regional tier of government for Windsor
  • Amalgamate municipalities of Niagara Region
  • Increase provincial oversight of municipalities
  • Do not amalgamate city governments

Bilingualism
3ideas
  • Make bilingualism official
  • Make English the official language
  • Reduce spending on French language services

Volunteering
3ideas
  • Promote volunteering and community service (2 ideas)
  • Restore funding for the Youth Leaders in Action program

First Nations
3ideas
  • Improving drinking water on reserves (2 ideas)
  • Provide employment opportunities to First Nations communities

Animal Services
2ideas
  • Remove the ban on pit bulls
  • Promote humane societies

Non-profits
2ideas
  • Investigate the success of social innovation and social finance in other jurisdictions
  • Publish data about non-profit grants, funding, administrative overhead

Seniors
1idea
  • Create employment opportunities for seniors in small towns