Ontario has more than 1.25 million potential new homes already in the development pipeline — it just needs to figure out how to convince builders to get shovels in the ground, say experts who manage planning in cities across Ontario.

The Regional Planning Commissioners of Ontario (RPCO) came to that conclusion in a new report released this week on the state of the province’s unbuilt housing supply.

The figure reflects the number of homes developers have been approved for permits to build, but have not yet materialized. Once approved by municipalities, there is no set timeline by which a developer must build the homes.

The RPCP says its calculations are based on numbers from late last year, before the Ford government passed the controversial Bill 23, the More Homes Built Faster Act.

The bill aims to help the government build 1.5 million new homes over the next decade — a figure that does not include the homes already approved to be built. But the planners say if the province could incentivize developers to build what is already approved by municipalities, they’d be 85 per cent of the way toward their goal, well ahead of their target.

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