Pickering exceeding its housing targets by 58% last year and already making significant progress this year. With a record-breaking 1,502 new units in 2023, Pickering secured a substantial $5.2 million bonus from the provincial government. In 2024, the city has already built nearly 600 units, marking over half of its 2024 goal of 1,083. The city issued 1,933 building permits last year, valued at $853 million, and received 1,972 new development applications worth $1.26 billion, indicating robust development activity. Clarington, after having the poorest performance last year, is now on pace to meet its targets with 344 units already built, representing 31.8% of its 2024 goal.

Ajax, Whitby, and Oshawa struggled to meet their goals last year, achieving between 60-67% of their housing targets. Cities must hit 80% to qualify for a bonus. Oshawa and Whitby have made minimal progress this year as well, with just 82 and 96 starts respectively. Ajax is making progress towards its yearly goal, having constructed 377 units thus far, accounting for 26.6% of its target.

The Ontario government aims to construct a minimum of 1.5 million homes by 2031. It has allocated housing targets to the province’s 50 largest municipalities and established a $1.2 billion Building Faster Fund to incentivize progress toward this objective. Whitby, Ajax, Pickering, and Clarington were assigned targets of 18,000, 17,000, 13,000, and 13,000 units respectively.

View Ontario’s housing target tracker here.