Planning Paralysis: Who’s Really to Blame for Housing Delays? (Part 1)
Housing development across Canada is facing serious challenges and building new homes is taking too long and costing too much, with approval process taking months or even years.
Let's set out to answer ‘How much time is being lost?’
Five key regions are being focused on: Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec, and Nova Scotia. These areas reflect a mix of Canada’s largest urban markets, fast-growing cities, and places experimenting with new planning policies.
A range of sources were consulted including municipal planning reports, academic research (from institutions like Simon Fraser University and Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD), industry surveys, and direct developer feedback.
Here’s a province-by-province breakdown of what’s happening, and why it matters for affordability, supply, and the future of Canadian housing.
Ontario
In Ontario, especially the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), development approvals often exceed two years. Site plan approvals average 23 months (RENX, 2025), well beyond the 60-day legislative target. Most mid-size to large projects faces 20 to 25 month (about 2 years) delays, with some reaching 34 months (BILD, 2024). These delays cost about $230,000–$299,000 per month for a 100-unit project, totaling an estimated $3.5 billion annually in economic inefficiencies (Ontario Construction News; ConstructConnect, 2024).
These timelines result from navigating the multiple steps of approvals, official plan amendments, zoning changes, site plan control, and urban design reviews. Each layer adds month of delay, and every month of delay translates into higher costs, which are passed directly to homebuyers, reducing affordability, especially for first-time buyers and middle-income families. In some cases, developers abandon projects due to the excessive time and financial burden (LEXPERT, 2024).
As of 2023, over 1.25 million housing units across Ontario had received development approval but remained unbuilt. In Mississauga alone, 34,800 approved units were inactive or only partially phased. Of the total approved units, only 331,600 are genuinely "shovel-ready" (fully approved with permits and servicing); another 731,000 units still require further approvals (BILD; The Pointer; Global News, 2023).
Municipal fees have also risen sharply, now exceeding $122,000 for condos and $165,000 for single-family homes (BILD, 2023). There is also evidence of cancellations due to financial strains such as construction costs, material costs, labor shortages, interest rates and more. In Q1 2025, 5,734 units in Ontario were canceled or repurposed, due to financing pressures. Nationally, 22% of homebuilders report canceling amid rising costs and tightening markets (Linkedin, Toronto Star via Reddit, 2025).
“Each month of delay adds approximately $2,600–$5,600 per unit to costs, pushing up the price of new homes by $40,000–$90,000” - BILD (2025)
British Columbia
In Metro Vancouver, housing development faces growing delays and financial strain. Over 73,000 approved housing units remain unbuilt, largely due to steep Development Cost Charges (DCCs) and municipal fees (Construction Connect, 2024). These financial barriers are stalling urgently needed housing supply amid rising population demands.
Developers are struggling with sharply rising costs. Financing rates have climbed to 9-12%, while municipal fees, such as DCCs and new Amenity Cost Charges (ACCs), now account for 12-15%, and sometimes as much as 30-35% of total project costs (RENX, 2023). In some cases, DCCs have risen by up to 300%, putting additional pressure on project viability (RENX, 2023).
Metro Vancouver currently delivers about 23,424 new housing units per year, but the region needs approximately 37,757 units annually to meet demand. This means housing starts must increase by 61% to close the gap between 2022 and 2026 and that means an extra 22,668 homes per year is required (Daily Hive, 2024). Approval times also remain a barrier with Vancouver averaging 15.2 months per application (Storeys, Daily Hive, 2023).
In response, Vancouver introduced the “3‑3‑3‑1” framework, targeting 3 days for intake, 3 weeks for review, 3 months for a decision, and 1 final sign-off, but its impact remains limited so far (UDI, 2024). Industry leaders like Rachel Lei (Keltic Canada) warn the region needs 50,000 to 55,000 homes annually, yet it's falling far short due to regulatory hurdles, inflated fees, and sluggish approvals (RENX, 2024).
“Essentially, the new rules were nothing more than window dressing… Simply designating a property for higher density does not automatically make it a viable development site. Details matter.” - Daily Hive, 2023
Alberta
Alberta generally outperforms provinces like Ontario and British Columbia in residential development timelines. The Calgary-Edmonton Corridor shows average approval times of 13.5 months in Calgary and 12.9 months in Edmonton, faster than Metro Vancouver. (Fraser Institute, 2023).
However, delays still persist in Alberta. In Calgary, development permits average 130 days, exceeding the city's 120-day target, while land use amendments take 187 days, surpassing the 180-day goal (City of Calgary, 2025). Development permit appeals also surged, with each appeal costing developers around $500 per day until resolved (Global News, 2025). In Edmonton, zoning reforms aimed at curbing sprawl have faced developer pushback due to delays in infrastructure servicing and planning coordination. (CBC Edmonton, 2024). BILD Alberta reports that inconsistent building code interpretations and prolonged permit reviews are adding months to timelines (BILD Alberta, 2024).
Meanwhile, Alberta’s received access to $6 billion in federal housing and infrastructure funding but it remains uncertain, as the province has resisted conditions tied to zoning reforms and fee freezes, potentially delaying critical support for housing development (CBC, 2024). In response, the province launched the "Stop Housing Delays" portal in November 2024, providing developers and municipalities with a platform to report bureaucratic obstacles and help inform provincial reform efforts (LiveWire Calgary, 2024).
Despite these hurdles, Alberta’s housing sector has shown strong momentum: 33,577 new homes were started by September 2024, a 35% increase year-over-year, including a record 9,903 apartment starts in the first half of the year alone (Live Wire Calgary, 2024). These figures suggest that the province’s proactive approach and regulatory advantages are helping to accelerate much-needed housing development. (Live Wire Calgary, 2024).
“The Stop Housing Delays portal will allow Alberta’s government to hear directly from developers, municipalities and partners … This will help identify and remove barriers, ultimately getting homes built faster.” - CTV News, 2024
Quebec
In Quebec, heritage preservation regulations significantly impact housing development timelines. A survey consisting of 42 developers revealed that stalled construction projects are delaying the delivery of at least 25,000 housing units across the province (CityNews, 2023). Approximately 14,500 of these units are planned for Montreal and its surrounding regions, with developers citing burdensome permit-granting processes, zoning obstacles, and public resistance to densification as primary causes of delays (CityNews, 2022). A striking example is that “20 per cent of requests for heritage designation have been under study for more than 10 years,” (CityNews, 2020).
Compounding the supply shortfall, Quebec is experiencing steep declines in housing starts and vacancy rates. A 100,000-unit housing deficit across the province was estimated (CTV, 2022 ). The depth of this supply crunch is intensified by a downturn in construction. Between January and November 2023, Quebec saw just 29,963 housing starts, a 35% drop from the same period the previous year (MEI, 2023) Many projects in these areas face lengthy approvals, with design reviews adding months and driving up costs. In Rosemont, for example, a bylaw to preserve 561 flat-roofed homes was postponed after homeowner concerns, illustrating how heritage considerations delay development.(Global News, 2018).
To address these challenges, Montreal announced a new standard aimed at speeding up building permits. Set to be implemented in 2025, this initiative establishes a maximum 120-day waiting period for construction permits. This change comes in response to previous delays, with some permits taking up to two years to process. The new standard is expected to streamline the approval process and facilitate the construction of new housing units (Smart Capital, 2024).
Despite ongoing efforts, developers continue to express concern over how heritage regulations may hinder housing development. This highlights the importance of finding a balanced solution that preserves Quebec’s cultural heritage while meeting the demand for housing. (Global News, 2018)
“It’s not normal that the city of Vancouver all by itself has had about as many housings starts as the entire province of Quebec.” - MEI, 2023
Nova Scotia
Halifax, the province’s largest urban center, introduced the Centre Plan to simplify zoning and streamline development approvals. However, the plan has encountered significant delays. Development agreements currently take 8 months to 2.5 years, far beyond the city’s target of 8 months. Rezoning applications range from 2 to 16 months, while the target is just 3 to 8 months. Subdivision approvals average 7.5 months, nearly double the 4-month goal (City of Halifax, 2023). These timelines slow housing delivery and create frustration for developers and planners (City of Halifax, 2023).
To address supply shortages, Halifax has introduced zoning reforms, with new changes potentially unlocking up to 200,000 new residential units citywide (CBC News, 2024). The city also secured federal support via the Housing Accelerator Fund, which is aimed at speeding up development in key growth areas (CBC News, 2024). Yet despite these efforts, administrative and procedural limitations persist. According to the Halifax Index 2024, housing starts increased by 37.5% from 3,387 units in 2022 to 4,657 in 2023, but completions fell slightly from 3,061 to 2,954. Early 2024 data showed starts hitting 4,691 units, with only a modest 225-unit increase in completions (Halifax Partnership, 2024).
Looking ahead, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) warns Nova Scotia must more than double annual housing starts, from about 5,400 to over 12,500 units between 2025 and 2035, to restore affordability. Success could reduce average home prices from $511,000 to under $406,000 and lower rents by 6%. (Ontario Housing Market, 2025). These projections reinforce the need for more efficient and predictable approvals and faster project completions. Without real improvements in execution, even bold policies may fall short of addressing Halifax’s housing crisis.
"At the end of the day, the city, ideologically, does not seem like it has an interest in maximizing housing." - CTV News, 2023
Summary
Canada’s housing crisis is being worsened by slow, complex, and costly processes across provinces, with delays driven by layered bureaucracy, high fees, heritage constraints, and poor interdepartmental coordination. In Ontario and British Columbia, timelines often exceed two years, while Quebec and Nova Scotia face stalled projects despite policy reforms. Alberta performs better but still encounters delays. Without urgent reforms to streamline planning, reduce restrictions, and align policies, housing targets will remain out of reach, and affordability will continue to decline.
