2025 Federal Election – Future in Focus: Building Guelph Together

The Challenges:

Guelph is a major manufacturing hub in Southwestern Ontario, with many businesses highly oriented to trade with the United States. Guelph has the 4th highest per capita exports to the U.S. of any Canadian city, with roughly 16,000 manufacturing jobs which are at risk from trade and tariff uncertainty. In addition to the major employers which trade directly with the U.S., there are many local and regional manufacturing and service suppliers which work within low margins and are highly vulnerable to any disruptions in trade and demand. Disruptions to the manufacturing sector in Guelph may have wide-reaching negative implications for the entire community.

Opportunities for Federal Support and Collaboration:

In the immediate term, the City of Guelph calls on the incoming federal government to:

• Continue offering financial supports to businesses and workers facing impacts imposed by tariffs, to maintain the wellbeing of manufacturing communities such as Guelph.
• Provide guidance to municipalities and businesses to inform purchasing and procurement decisions, which support Canadian businesses while respecting international trade agreements.
• Consult with municipalities to ensure that any negative impacts of economic countermeasures on communities are minimized.

In the longer term, there are opportunities to make investments into community economic resilience:

Develop a long-term investment strategy to boost Canadian supply chains for municipal procurement, which would allow over 5000 municipalities across the country to obtain domestic goods needed to deliver services to our communities.

Make investments into trade-enabling transportation and infrastructure to unlock employment lands to make Canadian businesses and communities more competitive and resilient to global uncertainty.

The Challenges:

Beyond the immediate economic impacts of the uncertain Canada-U.S. relations on the community, there are potential trickle-down effects that may impact municipal operations and affordability. One potential impact that is already being seen in some provinces is the increased use of municipal law enforcement to combat illegal drug trade. Guelph Police Service personnel are the first line of response to fentanyl and other illegal drug trafficking in our community, and with Guelph’s policing costs increasing by over 30 per cent in the last four years, any potential direction to increase enforcement will have impacts on affordability.

Another side effect of uncertain international relations is a potential increase in the number of asylum seekers coming into Canada. A strong social services system is essential to support safe resettlement of and wellbeing of newcomers. However, as the City’s contributions to the local social services manager have increased by over 80 per cent in five years, and local shelters are already approaching capacity, there is an urgent need for social service investments.

Opportunities for Federal Support and Collaboration:

Intergovernmental collaboration which sees that federal decisions on immigration are supported with provincial funding for municipalities and social service providers, and ensures that newcomers are appropriately supported with housing and social services.

Operational and funding support for local law enforcement, that ensures that local property tax payers are not faced with increased affordability challenges due to increased policing requirements for national issues.

The Challenges:

In 2024, 1 out of 3 Guelph residents reported that housing affordability was the most important issue facing the City, contributing to a decreasing quality of life. This is a significant shift from the findings of the 2022 Guelph satisfaction survey and reflects the growing scale of the housing crisis.

While Guelph is working to enable a range of housing that meets community needs, municipalities ultimately do not build homes. As of year-end 2023, there are almost 5,900 housing units across 150 land parcels in Guelph which are approved, but have yet to be built. City staff are actively reaching out to these landowners and developers to understand how to remove barriers and support construction. However, there are often barriers to building that are outside of the homebuilder’s direct control, including supply chain issues, housing market instability, high interest rates, and an inability to secure skilled tradespeople to do the work.

Opportunities for Federal Support and Collaboration:

Increasing housing supply will require collaboration between the homebuilding community and all levels of government. There are opportunities for direct investments into municipalities to accelerate housing approvals and construction:

• Programs, such as the Rapid Housing Initiative (RHI), that directly support municipalities in building housing have proven valuable in the past. With funding provided through the RHI, the City of Guelph worked with Wellington County to deliver 28 new transitional housing units at 65 Delhi Street. As Guelph explores its role in building affordable housing, funding programs would allow the City to capitalize on any opportunities to deliver much needed units to the community.
• Investments in transit also have great potential in expanding housing supply, as many solutions such as intensification and infill development rely on a robust transit system to be feasible for residents. By investing in transit and other non-automotive modes of connectivity, the federal government can support highly-connected municipalities, and enable a wider diversity of housing units to accommodate the community’s needs.

Beyond supports for municipalities, there is a need to support organizations leading the way on affordable housing. Models such as co-operatives, tiny and modular homes, and Community Land Trusts have the potential to provide permanent affordable and equitable housing, however, up-front costs may present major barriers to construction. As the City explores these models through its Housing Affordability Strategy, federal support to homebuilders and community groups will be important to integrate these solutions into the housing mix.

The Challenges:

Federal funding programs have proven highly valuable in advancing innovative local initiatives and supporting affordability measures for communities. As the level of government closest to communities, municipalities can transform federal funds into tangible projects and infrastructure which improve quality of life for residents, and advance federal priorities. As Guelph and other municipalities increasingly divert funds to urgent issues such social services, and address high priority infrastructure renewal and growth needs, predictable funding provides much needed relief.

Unfortunately, many funding programs are time limited, application-based, and are often associated with complicated requirements and restrictive timelines. Historically, this has often resulted in challenges with matching funding opportunities to the highest priority projects.

Opportunities for Federal Support and Collaboration:

In designing new funding programs, the incoming federal government has an opportunity to greatly increase efficiency and improve value for money by:

• Shifting towards allocation-based programs which award funding based on need and population, rather than requiring complex applications.
• Streamlining and aligning funding requirements between federal programs, to simplify the application and reporting process and allow municipalities to focus their resources on project delivery.

In the longer term, there is a need for a new, sustainable, and predictable ways to fund municipalities. As municipalities shift away from Development Charges as a method of raising revenue, and address affordability concerns associated with property taxes, there are consistent shortfalls in funding required to address urgent municipal priorities. To support affordability for members of our community, the City of Guelph echoes the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ call for a renewed Municipal Growth Framework. With all levels of government at the table, there is an opportunity to develop a new, diverse, predictable, and equitable way to fund local governments that addresses affordability concerns and improves the quality of life for Guelph and other growing communities.