Built to Stall: Why Ontario's Housing Machine Has Stopped — and What It Takes to Restart It

Ontario's residential construction sector is facing its worst crisis in decades. Pre-construction condo sales have plummeted 89%, single-family home sales are down 71%, and half the municipalities in the GTA and Golden Horseshoe are failing on housing. In this episode, we sit down with Richard Lyall, president of the Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON), who has represented the building industry since 1991 and has never seen conditions this bad. Lyall walks us through the forces behind the collapse — from development charges that have ballooned tenfold in a decade to an approvals process that stretches 90-day timelines past 600 days — and lays out the policy reforms RESCON believes are needed to restart the housing pipeline. We dig into the new GST cut for first-time buyers, the case for rolling back development charges, and what Canada can learn from Germany's approach to building. Follow John x-twitter: https://x.com/JohnPasalis, Instagram @john.pasalis or email: [email protected] Follow the show on x-twitter: @MoveSmartly, Instagram @move.smartly  About This Show The Move Smartly show is hosted by John Pasalis, President and Broker of Realosophy Realty. MoveSmartly.com and its media channels on YouTube and various podcast platforms are powered by Realosophy Realty in Toronto, Canada. You can also watch this episode on our MoveSmartly YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/movesmartly If you enjoy our show and find it useful, please like, subscribe, share, review and comment on whatever platform you are watching or listening to us from - we appreciate your support!