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Stratford may be taking another big step to incentivize new affordable housing builds.

Published Sep 15, 2025  •  2 minute read

Stratford is considering a new grant program that would provide a decade of property tax breaks for affordable housing builds. (Beacon Herald file photo)

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Stratford may be taking another big step to incentivize new affordable housing builds.

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City council is holding a special public meeting Monday evening to discuss what’s called a tax increment equivalency grant. This grant is essentially a deferral by the city of new tax revenues for new affordable housing builds for a 10-year period.

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If passed, this tax incentive would provide owners with a sliding reduction in required property taxes over that 10-year period. In the first year of the grant, the property owner would receive a 90 per cent property tax reduction. That reduction would then gradually ease by 10 per cent in each ensuing year, offering a 10 per cent property tax reduction by the ninth year of the grant program.

Kendra Fry, a housing specialist with investStratford, the city’s economic development arm, notes in her report to council the exact impact of the proposal is not quantifiable for any one property until the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation assesses the new build.

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But if a unit was to generate $2,500 in taxes without the incentive program, for example, it would provide the city with $25,000 in revenue over 10 years. With the proposed incentive program, the tax collected in the same period would amount to $11,250, providing a grant that would be worth $13,750.

There are currently eight new affordable housing units that are expected to be completed in Stratford in 2026. The current proposal would rely on the provincial definition of affordable, meaning the rent is no more than 80 per cent of market rate or, if sold for ownership, that the closing price is no more than 80 per cent of the average purchase price.

However, this definition is different from the 30 per cent of gross income definition the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation uses.

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The proposal stems from recommendations proposed by the Stratford Attainable Housing Project in May 2023, which included:

• Developing a community incentive toolkit and a community improvement plan to financially support the creation of attainable housing;
• Considering the use of municipally owned land to further support the creation of additional attainable housing; and
• Launching an awareness campaign to engage and act on matters related to attainable housing, including the creation of additional accessory suites.

“Having significantly acted on initiatives 2 and 3, investStratford staff are now recommending proceeding with the development of Community Improvement Plan initiatives,” the report states.

While the city’s 2025 budget did include $150,000 from the municipal accommodation tax reserve to fund new attainable housing incentive initiatives, the report explains that, regardless of amount, the incentive program “represents an investment by the rest of the tax base to support the program.”

The $150,000 approved in the 2025 budget may be used until it is depleted, otherwise further funded or otherwise reallocated by council, the report explains.

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