Summary of Implemented Actions – July 2026

Housing Action Plan

Like many communities throughout Ontario and across Canada, the Town of Huntsville is facing challenges around lack of housing, including affordable housing. While these challenges need to be addressed in conjunction with all levels of government, the Town has identified and undertaken a variety of initiatives to try and alleviate some of the housing pressures in our community.

As part of its 2024 Strategic Plan, the Town included two strategies related to housing, under the Pillar of Balanced Growth:

Objective: Work with our partners to strive to meet our housing needs.

Strategies:

  1. Develop a Housing Action Plan to identify solutions to meet the town's market rental and ownership needs as identified through a Needs Assessment to be conducted in conjunction with the District of Muskoka.
  2. Collaborate with the District of Muskoka, other levels of government and community partners to create attainable housing options and effectively communicate their programs to Huntsville residents.

Based on these strategies, the following actions were identified:

In November 2024, the Town of Huntsville endorsed a Housing Needs Assessment (HNA) to identify solutions to meet the town’s market rental and ownership needs. 

The goal of the HNA:  

  • Examine the housing needs in the community 
  • Identify gaps in the provision of housing
  • Suggest municipal actions to help meet current and future needs 

Findings in the HNA were intended to guide future policy and development decisions to address the housing challenges in the Town of Huntsville. They were also meant to inform recommendations for actions the Town should consider as a means of helping to address existing needs and gaps in affordable housing. 

Key areas of focus identified through the HNA: 

  • Increase the rental housing stock 
  • Increase affordable housing 
  • Workforce housing and seniors housing 
  • Multiple residential development in urban centres close to employment nodes and community services 

The complete Housing Needs Assessment is available on the Town’s website. 

The Town's Housing Action Plan was developed using the findings and recommendations from the HNA and was approved at General Committee in March 2025. View the Housing Action Plan.

The summary below outlines some of the actions included in the Plan that have been implemented to date.

This project is anticipated to start in 2027.

Following a period of evaluation, public engagement, significant view and suitability mapping, a new Height and Density Policy was approved by Council in (June 2026). The Town has since amended the Huntsville Official Plan and the Community Planning Permit By-law to enable increased height and density, if and where appropriate, and assist in managing guidelines and requirements for these new housing projects.

A staff resource has been appointed to assist proponents for these types of development proposals and liaise with other town departments and external agencies to make the development process as quick and efficient as possible.

A staff person has been designated to assist with the development of SRDUs. Recognizing that a planning application and building permit process can be daunting, staff resources are allocated to assist homeowners with the development process. 

  • A dedicated page for the SRDU Program has been created on the Town of Huntsville website. The page includes six pre-approved designs, building permit drawings, and associated project details and costs. 
  • A link to the SRDU Program page has been added to the Building and Renovating section of the website.
  • Marketing materials have been developed to provide residents with clear, accessible information about SRDU development, including potential costs, requirements, and the application process.

The following by-law amendments have been adopted:

  1. Short Term Rental Accommodation licensing (STRA) by-law
    The STRA licensing by-law has been amended to prohibit a STRA license being available until a property has been owned for more than one calendar year. This will prevent purchasers of potential STRAs from renting them for the first year and encourage second dwellings to be used as long term rentals.

  2. Community Planning Permit By-law Amendments

  • A short term rental accommodation (STRA) is not a permitted accessory use in the Urban Residential Low (UR1) precinct.
  • Two SRDUs are permitted within a detached structure in rural areas.
  • The parking requirement for new multiple residential rental buildings has been reduced to one space per dwelling unit. For affordable rental units, the parking requirement has been reduced to 0.75 spaces per unit.
  • Four-plexes are a permitted use on all urban serviced residential and mixed-use lots.

The following updates have been adopted: 

  1. Require affordable units to be incorporated in each development
    Section D2.2 in the Official Plan has been updated to include affordable percentage targets for all new residential developments. The following have been incorporated: 
    • A minimum target of 10% of all new units, where development of 10 or more units is proposed through residential intensification or greenfield development, will include smart value housing units. 
    • The Town will require a minimum of 25% of all new ground-related housing in each application of 10 or more units to be constructed to accommodate future secondary residential dwelling units through such measures as sufficient window sizes, plumbing rough-in, fire/sound separation and other base construction requirements as specified by the Ontario Building Code. 
  2. Permit residential development in some employment areas
    The Regional Commercial, Business Employment and Community Business designations have been updated to allow residential uses.
  3. Further restrict rental conversions to condominiums
    Where a multiple residential development has received any financial incentives or been granted additional height and/or density through a community benefit, specifically when the benefit is rental housing, no conversions will be permitted for a period of 25 years.
  4. Require a mix of housing types in each phase of development
    Part C of the Official Plan has been updated to change the language from "encourage" to "require" where it references housing mix.

The Town has revised the policy to strengthen incentives, including raising ceiling prices for assessed values and adopting an income-based definition for affordable housing. These figures will be published annually. This will enable rental incentives to be calculated appropriately and align with provincial affordability guidelines.

Additional rebates now included in this policy include entrance permit fees, cash in lieu of parkland and cash in lieu of parking.

More information can be found on the Affordable Housing page.

A tax increment grant policy for rental and affordable rental housing has been created. The program supports rental and affordable rental housing by providing grants that offset some or all of the increase in municipal property taxes resulting from development and MPAC reassessment. The grant applies only to the municipal portion of property taxes and does not cover District of Muskoka taxes, education taxes, water and sewer charges, or other fees. 

The Official Plan and Community Planning Permit By-law were amended to permit the creation of rural residential lots, using Alternative Rural Residential Lot Standards.

CPPA/36/2025/HTE - Alternative Rural Residential Lot Standards 

Tiny homes are included in the Affordable Housing Rebate Program, such that any single detached dwelling that is under 400 square feet would qualify if its MPAC assessed value (for 2025) fell below $257,000.

The STRA By-law incorporates penalties for owners and operators when infractions, such as noise, over-occupancy) occur. The by-law has been updated to reduce the number of infractions permitted prior to a license being revoked.

Development Charges (DCs)

  • No DCs are payable for SRDUs 
  • Residential DCs are exempt when the purchase price is below the market-based and income-based thresholds established by the province. Applicable units must be subject to agreements that provide for them to remain affordable residential units for 25 years. Units must also be sold or rented on an arm's length basis. For ownership housing, a unit would be considered affordable when the purchase price is at or below the lesser of the income-based purchase price (purchase price that would result in annual accommodation costs equal to 30% of a household’s gross annual income for a household at the 60th percentile of the income distribution for all households in the local municipality); and market-based purchase price (90% of the average purchase price of a unit of the same unit type in the local municipality). 
  • For rental housing, a unit is considered affordable when the rent is at or below the lesser of Income-based rent (rent that is equal to 30% of gross annual household income for a household at the 60th percentile of the income distribution for renter households in the local municipality); and Market-based rent (Average market rent of a unit of the same unit type in the local municipality). Applicable units must be subject to agreements that provide for them to remain affordable residential units for 25 years. 
  • There are also statutory discounts in place for rental housing where the Town must provide automatic discounts for different types of rental housing based on the number of bedrooms:  
    • A development charge for a residential unit intended for use as a rented residential premises with three or more bedrooms shall be reduced by 25%  
    • A development charge for a residential unit intended for use as a rented residential premises with two bedrooms shall be reduced by 20%  
    • A development charge for a residential unit intended for use as a rented residential premises not referred to in paragraph one or two shall be reduced by 15% 

Contact Us

Town of Huntsville
37 Main St. East
Huntsville, Ontario
P1H 1A1

Open Monday to Friday 8:30 – 4:30
Phone: 705-789-1751 option 0
Fax: 705-788-5153
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