According to the recently released Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA) National Municipal Benchmarking Study, the City of Hamilton is in last place in building approval timeline speed, with the typical approval measured at 31 months.
The City of Hamilton also saw the “worst deterioration in timelines” between 2022 and 2024, with an increase of 8.1 months from the previously reported average.
The report adds that indirect costs due to delays in the City of Hamilton are $3,718 per unit per month for low-rise units and $2,112 per unit per month for high-rise units.
The indirect costs as a result of delays include property taxes incurred during delays, financing costs, and cost escalation of construction materials and labour due to inflation.
In terms of overall findings, combining each city’s performance on planning features and government charges in addition to approvals timelines, the City of Hamilton ranked 19th out of the 23 cities examined, meaning it has the fifth worst result.
The Canadian Home Builders’ Association says that municipal development charges, difficult planning processes, and slow approval timelines all “contribute to housing unaffordability and supply issues in major housing markets across Canada.”
For the planning features portion of the report, the City of Hamilton was tied for 10th out of the 23 cities examined, with a score of 71 per cent.
Broken down further, the City of Hamilton received an 88 per cent score for planning application preparation features, 69 per cent for application submission options, and 60 per cent for application tracking features.
Next, the weighted average cost in municipal fees for developments in the City of Hamilton was calculated at $64,546 per unit, putting the municipality in 14th place in that category.
Municipal charges for low-rise developments in the city were deemed to be $88,200 per unit, while the fees for high-rise developments were calculated at $59,600 per unit.
The report also notes that the City of Hamilton’s population has only grown by 4.0 per cent between 2021 and 2023, the second lowest of the 23 cities measured, which CHBA attributes to “a lack of housing supply.”
The West End Home Builders’ Association (WEHBA), which represents home-building and renovation professionals in the Hamilton and Halton regions, commented on the findings in the CHBA report.
The group says, “At the heart of this crisis is a severe housing shortage, compounded by rising construction costs, slow approval processes and heavy taxation on new homes.”
WEHBA notes that new housing starts in Hamilton have “slowed significantly” as high-rise and mid-rise condo sales fall and “low-rise land supply remains at unsustainable levels, driving that market segment to neighbouring jurisdictions.”
Meanwhile, municipal development charges in Hamilton have increased 87 per cent since 2021. The City of Hamilton also requires 93 documents and reports as part of planning applications, which is almost double the Canadian average of 50.
Mike Collins-Williams, the CEO of the WEHBA, concludes, “The lack of attainable housing is driving young people away from cities like Hamilton, where they are desperately needed to fill jobs and sustain economic growth.”
“Without new housing, cities face stagnation, with minimal property tax assessment growth, fewer children and a shrinking workforce.”
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
