The Ontario Government has set a goal of building 1.5 million homes by 2031. To meet this goal, the province assigned Housing Targets to municipalities across the province. Oakville’s target is 33,000 homes by 2031.
Oakville Town Council unanimously approved the Housing Pledge assigned by the province, which includes how Oakville can facilitate the approvals of 33,000 new homes over the next decade. For more information visit the Oakville Council pledges 33,000 new housing approvals news release page.
The town's role is to process and approve housing units, not build housing. We have implemented the necessary policies and process improvements to accommodate the provincially mandated housing target. All partners in Oakville’s housing development system need to do their part to achieve the provincial housing target.
Progress towards housing pledge (from 2023 to 2031)
We're tracking the town’s progress towards the overall Housing Pledge target of 33,000 homes (also referred to as housing units) to be achieved by 2031.
The counts below are based on the number of housing starts reported by the Town of Oakville, since January 2023, in relation to the town's Housing Pledge target.
Tracking municipal approvals (year-to-date)
The town is responsible for approving builds and this is done through various applications and approval processes that are required by provincial legislation. All development projects must receive town approval to start. Once approved, developers or homeowners can then apply for the building permits to begin construction.
The information below shows the number of housing units that have been approved through development applications, and the number of housing units that have permission to begin building, issued through building permits for 2024, year-to-date.
Tracking housing starts (year-to-date)
Data on the number of homes being built is often tracked by a metric called Housing Starts. Housing Starts can be measured in different ways, and reported by different data sources.
The Town of Oakville defines a Housing Start as the first time we inspect a home being built. This is referred to as the first inspection and is conducted by the town’s Building Inspectors who visit every site when construction begins.
The table below reports the number of housing starts in Oakville for 2024 and is based on the town’s real-time first inspection data.
The Government of Ontario also tracks and reports on housing starts. They rely on data from the federal Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC) Housing Starts Survey to monitor municipal housing starts, and assign municipal funding related to the Housing Pledge. You can find more about the methods and process that CMHC uses to identify housing starts by visiting the Survey methodologies: Starts and Completions and Market Absorption | CMHC website.
CMHC's data is released monthly. The table below reports housing starts in Oakville, as identified by the CMHC Housing Start Survey.
The province’s Housing Pledge aligns with Oakville’s Housing Strategy and Action Plan, which guides decision making to promote housing supply, accelerate housing delivery and improve housing affordability and variety in Oakville.