Projections in Ontario’s budget for housing starts show the province’s target to build 1.5 million homes in 10 years slipping further out of reach with each passing year.

Nearly 100,000 homes were built in the province in 2022, the first year counting toward the goal, but the forecast shows the number of housing starts in the next few years struggling to crack 80,000 annually.

The projections are revised downward from what was expected in last year’s budget, including an estimate of 79,300 homes built in 2024, down from the 87,300 expected for 2024 at this time last year.

Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy says those private-sector forecasts reflect the economic environment, in which rising interest rates are hampering building.

He says the numbers don’t reflect some of the government’s recent steps to spur new home construction, including a law that, in part, freezes, reduces and exempts fees developers pay on certain builds such as affordable housing.

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