Bruce County's Housing Action Plan is attracting some interest from developers.
That's according to Commissioner of Community Development Claire Dodds, who updated the county council on the plan Thursday.
The plan includes 25 actions in areas like research, policy, community development, incentives, and engagement.
She listed several accomplishments so far, such as advancing the new Bruce County Official Plan and supporting municipalities in their work to create affordable housing.
She said the Build in Bruce webpage was created to make housing information easily accessible. Dodds added that the Housing Cross-Functional team also successfully launched the Housing Concierge Service.
"There is a very strong interest in terms of what incentives, potentially, what financial programs, whether that be municipalities, the county, province or federal government, can bring to the table in order to impact affordability," Dodds said.
The Housing Cross-Functional team helps developers with pre-development reviews and navigating approvals for organizations, funding, and partnerships.
"Since our launch in August, we have had 15 different kinds of independent, discrete inquiries from a mix of developers, not-for-profit organizations, and folks who are interested in being part of a housing solution here in Bruce County. And some of those inquiries have led to regular and ongoing touch points," Dodds revealed. "The number one question coming to us, whether it be from private developers or nonprofit organizations, is, what funding is available to assist in terms of impacting affordability? I would say the next most frequent question is, what lands do the county or municipalities potentially have available in terms of offsetting costs to build affordable housing? "
Dodds explained that they plan to follow up with local developers to see if any have qualified for funding from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
The county will also create an inventory of county and municipal lands to support the development of affordable housing projects.
In May of 2025, a community-focused Housing Forum is planned to engage developers, non-profit organizations, municipal staff, and councilors.
Workshops will be held this year to encourage the development of Additional Residential Units.