4 minute read
Building the Industry Association of the Future
This past year has been thrilling for OHBA! We’re going through a period of growth and opportunity that is unprecedented in our organization’s history. While we’ve already made significant progress on many fronts, we’ve also repositioned ourselves for the future success of OHBA and the residential construction industry.
I started my journey with OHBA over 25 years ago, and my passion for our association has never diminished. Through many council and committee positions over the decades, I’ve learned so much about the organization and the value it delivers to the residential construction industry. Over the course of the last year, the transformation OHBA has gone through has been remarkable and I’ve never been more excited to be a part of its success.
As the new chair, my focus is on ensuring OHBA and the local chapters speak with one voice when it comes to supporting the residential construction industry on the provincial level. Working with the CEO, Scott Andison, and the rest of the board, including past chair Dave Depencier, our new strategic vision focuses on remaking OHBA as an industry association of the future. We want OHBA to be able to effectively speak for the diverse issues regarding housing across the province, and we have many initiatives in place to work towards this objective.
Along with pursuing our vision of “one voice,” I’m also focused on growing OHBA’s membership, allowing us to do more to support our members and partners on all levels of government, while continuing to improve the structure of OHBA for the better.
Namely, we’re working towards a new, more efficient structure for our regional and subject-based councils and committees. We’ve heard from our members that there is a need to reexamine how these councils and committees operate to ensure they are as effective as possible for all members. We are currently developing a plan to understand how to best address the needs of members across these various groups.
Acquiring 100% of EnerQuality was another notable step forward for OHBA. We heard our members and understood their need for more education and training. Our aim is to grow EnerQuality’s training offerings to both leverage it as a resource for members and turn it into a revenue generator for OHBA.
On the policy side, we’re looking to focus on specific areas and expand on some of the success we’ve seen in recent months. Financial regulation, including the issue of government fees and taxes, is materially impactful on housing supply and affordability. And while we’ve seen progress—for example, on the subject of pay-on-demand surety bonds—we still have a way to go in other areas like development charges.
Despite the City of Vaughan’s recent move to cut their development charges, the burden of these charges cannot be understated, especially as they continue to increase in many municipalities at the same time as we face a provincial housing crisis. We’re hoping the recent news out of Vaughan is a positive sign that more municipalities will follow suit and lower their development charges.
Likewise, GST/HST is another item we’re looking at for 2025. After the federal Conservatives pledged to cut the GST on all homes under $1 million, and with the success of the HST cut on purpose-built rental housing, our aim is for this pledge by Pierre Poilievre to be extended to provincial taxes and for a threshold above $1 million.
There are several other advocacy files we’re looking to address as we move forward with OHBA. Illegal building, Green Development Standards and housing-supportive infrastructure are just some of the critical areas we will be exploring this year.
Ultimately, while the residential construction industry may be currently facing a challenging economic environment, both industry and government are aligned on many aspects of how to deal with this housing crisis. We’re all looking to increase our housing supply and make homes more attainable for Ontarians.
And with OHBA’s new outlook for growth, I’m confident that we will be able to come together and build the future of Ontario.
