The Big Move on Housing

The District has endorsed the ambitious "Big Move on Housing" plan, with a significant investment of up to $35.125M over 5 years to accelerate attainable housing initiatives. The plan targets housing investments through a balanced approach across the housing continuum under three focus areas.

The Big Move supports housing as key strategic priority for Muskoka District Council, the District’s 10-Year Housing and Homelessness Plan and input received from the Muskoka Housing Task Force 2.0.

What are the 3 areas of focus in The Big Move?

Deepest Need: Investments to address chronic homelessness, impact Community Housing waitlists, and focus on addressing the affordability needs of the District’s most vulnerable population.
Attainable Market-Based Housing: Expand supply for purpose-built rentals, build stronger partnerships with private development sector, foster not-for-profit development. Increase investments in all communities including rural and smaller communities.
Capacity Building: Create additional capacity for housing construction in Muskoka. Foster and support trades education, host additional innovation forums, invest in organizational growth, encourage/attract modular or alternative housing production.

What are the goals of the plan?

Target the spectrum of people who can’t afford housing – those experiencing homelessness, those in need of social housing, moderate income households
Build capacity in Muskoka to produce more affordable housing long term
Leverage Provincial and Federal investment
Inspire volunteer and philanthropic efforts
Invest in all areas of the District
Use multiple streams of investment to target different populations
Partner to deliver almost all projects
Designate some investment to rural and smaller centres

Our Progress

This June, District representatives travelled to Ottawa to meet with Minister Fraser to advocate for essential funding to support The Big Move. We are taking decisive action to ensure housing for everyone in our community.

District representatives walking infront of Parliament Buildings District representatives standing with Minister Fraser

Stay tuned for more updates and ways you can get involved.

Key Projects

Theme 1: 100 Pine Street - Affordable Housing Development

The 100 Pine Street development is a key project in The Big Move and will bring 44 new affordable housing units to 100 Pine Street in Bracebridge. The project will help to address the Deepest Need focus area by providing much needed housing for those on social housing waitlists and for those at risk of or experiencing homelessness.

The new affordable housing building will feature 33 one-bedroom units and 11 studio apartments, with rents expected to range from $550-$950/month. 14 of the 44 new units will be barrier-free, and the building will have an elevator and accessible parking spaces to support persons living with disabilities. In addition, all units and common spaces incorporate a universally accessible design to assist with changing mobility needs.

The building will be located directly beside McVittie Place, an 80-unit affordable housing building for seniors that was built by the District in 2011. This location features easy access to a public transit stop on Pine Street in front of McVittie Place as well as direct links to walking trails and the municipal sidewalk, so residents will be able to take full advantage of close proximity to nearby amenities and shopping.

Several climate-friendly and energy-efficient options are proposed to improve the building’s environmental resiliency. These climate investments will reduce the District’s long-term maintenance and operational costs and open up access to additional grant opportunities. These energy-efficiency upgrades will also reduce utility costs for future tenants.

Theme 2: Additional Residential Units

The Muskoka Affordable Housing Initiatives Program (MAHIP) offers funding to eligible developers, builders, homeowners, and landlords to create and provide affordable housing units in Muskoka.MAHIP includes two funding streams: Multi-Residential Units and Additional Residential Units (ARUs).

ARUs were formerly known as secondary suites but can now include any self-contained living space that is attached to or within a single-family home, such as a detached, semi-detached, or townhouse, or located in an accessory or standalone building on the same property. ARUs can provide a source of rental income to help with home maintenance and mortgage costs, provide space for live-in caregivers, allow parents to house adult children, and provide much needed housing especially in rural areas.

A portion of MAHIP funding will be reserved each year specifically to fund ARUs, and the District has significantly increased the funding amount that property owners can receive per ARU. Muskoka property owners can now receive $40,000 or $50,000 per unit in the form of an interest-free forgivable loan to construct up to two units on their property. Under the Big Move on Housing, the District intends to increase ARU funding each year.

Learn more about the ARU funding program here.

The District has also created a guide that outlines the typical steps in the ARU permitting and construction process. Access "Your Guide to Building Additional Residential Units" here. An FAQ document is available here.

Theme 3: Georgian College Skilled Trades Capacity Building

District Council has approved a grant of up to $875,000 over three years for Georgian College to expand their capacity to provide skilled trades education in Muskoka with the goal to help address workforce shortages in the construction sector that are impacting the creation of housing supply in the District.

Funding will support initiatives to drive program innovation and capacity, including the development of new programs and credentials that address emerging areas in the construction industry such as sustainable development, green technologies, and digitization.

Contributions to a new skilled trades workshop will increase available learning space and accommodate larger projects, and a new digital fabrication lab will support technology-centric programs.

In addition, the District's grant will contribute to the refurbishment of the Georgian College skilled trades event trailer to better promote skilled trades education within the region, including in rural areas and with vulnerable populations, and will provide a bursary program specifically for skilled trades to encourage local residents to access programs and opportunities.

The District's support will assist Georgian College in growing the local construction workforce and its capacity to increase housing supply within Muskoka, and will help ensure that graduates in skilled trades programs from the Georgian College Muskoka campus have the knowledge and skills that are needed by employers in the District specifically, to help ensure graduates stay and work here.