POLICY FOCUS
Securing Affordable Housing for All
Housing is a human right. We are dedicated to implementing a robust strategy that protects renters, encourages smart development, and ensures that every resident has a safe place to call home.
Housing and Tenant Protection
Grow Stratford's supportive housing stock across differentiated streams.
Stratford needs the right kinds of supportive housing, matched to different populations. Individuals working through addiction recovery, families who fall outside domestic violence shelter mandates, and individuals who simply need a stable, service-connected home all have different needs.
Update Stratford's zoning framework to allow adaptive reuse.
Modular housing and new family and individual supportive housing streams all run into the same wall without zoning that permits it. I want Stratford's zoning updated so these transitions and builds are enabled by the rules already on the books.
Diversify Stratford's overall housing stock across one-, two-, and three-bedroom units.
I want Stratford to grow its housing supply deliberately across unit sizes rather than defaulting to whatever mix is easiest to build. This matters beyond general affordability. It's what makes the housing entity able to acquire the right unit for the right person.
Introduce a places-of-worship land severance and donation bylaw.
Stratford has churches and other institutions sitting on excess land that could become affordable housing, without the city having to acquire or fund the land itself. I want Stratford to introduce a bylaw that removes the zoning and process barriers currently making this kind of severance complicated.
Transition existing congregate housing settings toward a hub-based service model.
I want Stratford's existing congregate supportive housing to evolve from buildings into hubs that bring services onsite, case management, health and addictions supports, and connections to further housing, all in one place.
Pass a Rental Renovation Licence By-law to close the renoviction loophole.
I've prepared a draft built around a licensing approach, including buyout-offer disclosure and vulnerable-tenant advocate referrals. This bylaw is the local, enforceable version of the gap I flagged in my provincial expert testimony.
Bring a Recovery Community Center model to Stratford.
I want Stratford to adopt a model already proven in London, Ontario, where a resident's room is guaranteed for four years while they move through detox, rehab, and outpatient care. They always have stable housing to return to, regardless of where they are in that process.
Create a dedicated supportive housing stream for families.
I want Stratford to build a housing stream specifically for families in unsafe or unsustainable situations who don't qualify for domestic violence shelter mandates. These families currently fall into a gap with almost nowhere safe to go.
Build a shared, coordinated data system across Stratford's housing and homelessness service providers.
Outcome-based accountability only works if the data exists, and coordination requires a shared system. Stratford needs this infrastructure built locally to make service-matching commitments enforceable rather than aspirational.
Build modular, adaptive housing that flexes across the full spectrum of need.
I want Stratford's housing facilities able to shift between emergency, transitional, and supportive configurations as demand changes. One capital investment can serve multiple purposes over its lifetime instead of becoming obsolete.
Establish a standalone charitable housing entity to permanently acquire decentralized housing stock.
I've proposed a standalone, CRA-registered charitable foundation that acquires existing market housing, spread across the city rather than concentrated in one building, and holds it permanently outside the market for individuals ready to live independently. This decentralized approach is the mechanism behind the Finnish model people point to when they talk about ending homelessness, scattered, ordinary housing integrated into the community rather than large centralized shelters. The entity has to keep acquiring rather than make a one-time purchase, because permanent supportive housing doesn't turn over the way market rentals do. The only way to keep pace with demand is a continuous acquisition pipeline. That pipeline is funded by redirection of HST savings and development charge payments, sequenced correctly to become a supply pipeline that never stalls while offering a funded path to ownership for tenants who are ready for it.
Take Action for Stable Housing Today
Every resident deserves a seat at the table and a roof over their head. By contributing to Briscoe's campaign, you are advocating for a fairer, more affordable Stratford. Stand with us to build a city where no one is left behind in the housing crisis.