Back in July, IDEA had the opportunity to engage with the Canadian Urban Transit Association to provide feedback on the role public transit and transit-oriented development sites play in addressing Canada's housing crisis. The result of that engagement can be found in CUTA's recently published report, "Housing is on the Line: How Public Transit Can Tackle Canada’s Housing Crisis."
This report provides 17 recommendations across five policy pillars, aiming to better integrate public transit and housing supply. In total, CUTA gathered insights through seven in-person engagements across the country and online sessions, involving 200 participants from government, development, and stakeholders. An advisory committee provided valuable feedback, and the recommendations were reviewed by Infrastructure Canada and the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
Key recommendations included activating land around transit stations, evolving transit authorities' mandates for housing development, ensuring inclusivity, streamlining approval processes for Transit-Oriented Developments (TOD), and maximizing investments through regional collaboration.
Read the full report here and check out the video linked below released by CUTA to complement the technical report. In it, CUTA covers the five policy themes on the intersection of housing policy and transit with examples from several cities across Canada.