Windsor-Essex home prices are up 60% since 2019. Can an election make homes affordable?

Tariffs have dominated the conversation at the doors, according to federal election candidates, but one of the next biggest issues people want action on in Windsor-Essex is the housing crisis.

People say they've been priced out of the area they grew up in as the region's population booms, while the pace of housing construction fluctuates and struggles to keep up. The average cost of a home has risen by 60 per cent since 2019.

The housing platforms from each of the main political parties in the upcoming federal election include key planks that aim to motivate cities like Windsor to cut red tape and get more homes built. 

Both the NDP and Liberal party have outlined in their platforms a desire to see increased housing density in all neighbourhoods to help solve the housing crisis. 

The Conservatives will tie federal funding to housing targets that increase by 15 per cent each year. Beating those targets gets a city a bonus — missing them would lead to a cut in funding. 

Here's how this could play out for Windsor. 

City won't budge on allowing fourplexes 

One of the Liberals' key planks, the Housing Accelerator Fund, has been in action for two years and has been continuously slammed by the majority of Windsor city council.

Windsor would have unlocked up to $70 million through the program if council agreed to allow a developer to build four units on any residential lot in the city.

Some examples of how cities can use the money include buying land for affordable housing developments, building sewer systems and increasing public transit. 

Ontario currently allows three units on any residential lot, but a majority of city council decided in 2022 four units is too many.

The federal government denied the city's application.

This month, council decided not to apply for $28 million in public transit money because the Liberal government wanted four units as-of-right within 800 metres of St. Clair College and the University of Windsor.

South Windsor Coun. Fred Francis said that type of density "will decimate entire neighbourhoods." 

Liberal plan for housing

Lakeshore is one of 178 communities across Canada that has signed a deal with the Liberal government under the Housing Accelerator Fund, getting up to $40 million the federal government says could unlock 13,000 housing units. 

Tecumseh also signed on for the program, but the community is continuing to debate how it will handle four-units.

Liberal incumbent and Windsor—Tecumseh—Lakeshore candidate Irek Kusmierczyk said, if elected, the government would continue to work with the city to build homes faster. 

"You got to build different types of homes for different people at different stages of their lives," said Kusmierczyk.

He said a Liberal government would continue to help spur housing developments in Windsor under other government programs like the Meadowbrook affordable housing project.

"And of course, we will always make available the housing accelerator funding. But yes, it is up to the city to decide whether they want to partner with us on this," he said. 

Liberal leader Mark Carney has announced plans to double annual housing construction over the next decade and if elected will create a new Crown corporation called Build Canada Homes.

That would lead to billions in financing for prefabricated homes alongside low-cost loans and money for affordable housing. 

They would also eliminate the GST for anyone buying their first home as long as it's not more than $1 million. 

Overall, the Liberals would spend an additional $22 billion over four years on housing if re-elected.

What would the Conservatives do? 

The Conservatives are expected to release their costed platform on Tuesday.

The party has said it wants to tie federal funding to the number of homes that are built in a city during a year.

The target would increase by 15 per cent of the homes built the previous year, with a bonus for cities that beat the target.

Based on this plan, Windsor would have needed to build 2,262 homes in 2024.

But the data from Statistics Canada shows only 1,609 homes were completed last year, missing the mark by 29 per cent. 

None of the Conservative candidates running in Windsor-Essex would do an interview for this story about their party's housing platform. 

Kathy Borrelli, running for the second time in Windsor—Tecumseh—Lakeshore, told a CBC News reporter they weren't "taking any interviews" and then abruptly disconnected the call. 

Conservative incumbent and Essex candidate Chris Lewis sent a statement from leader Pierre Poilievre through his deputy campaign manager that outlined the party's policy. 

According to that statement, when it comes to a city's housing target "their federal funding will be withheld, equal to how much they miss their target by."

To help get more homes built, a Conservative party would match up to $25,000 in cuts a city makes to development charges that home builders pay on new builds.

They would also fine cities that allow people to block new housing developments from moving forward if the complaints are "egregious," sell off 6,000 federal buildings for housing developments and remove the GST from any new home bought under $1.3 million. 

How would an NDP government act?

NDP incumbent and Windsor-West candidate Brian Masse started pitching his party's housing platform by outlining what they would do for people who rent. 

"It's crucial because there's a lot of people right now that will never be able to buy a home right now in the immediate future," said Masse. 

The NDP is promising a national Renters' Bill of Rights alongside national rent control rules and better protection against renovictions. 

It would also build on the Housing Accelerator Fund by doubling the amount of money in the program and requiring cities that subscribe to the program to commit to 20 per cent of housing in every neighbourhood be non-market rate housing. 

"We definitely do on certain areas, need increased density," said Masse. 

"There needs to be more federal flexibility in this, and that's what appealed to the minister."

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh has said that federal lands used to build homes need to be for affordable units and not sold to private developers. 

The party has tied home-building to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs by promising to train over 100,000 skilled workers to build homes. 

The party's platform says its housing commitments would cost around $28 billion over four years.

Click here for a complete list of candidates running in Windsor-Essex ridings this federal election.