Bruce County announced Thursday the launch of the third phase of the Affordable Housing Development Toolkit, which shares an "Additional Residential Unit" Guide to homeowners, landlords and builders.

In a February 2 media release, the Guide offers step by step resources covering design and financial considerations as well as the municipal approvals process. The guide is said to contain insights and considerations specific to the County context as well as tools to help affordable housing projects come to life.

Bruce County defines Additional Residential Units (ARUs) as a separate residential unit located within a detached or semi-detached house, or rowhouse. ARUs function as additional homes on a property with their own entrance, kitchen, bathroom, living quarters and sleeping areas. They may be used as rental units or by members or relatives of the household.

The County plan follows a growing need for affordable housing and the Province of Ontario expanding the number of additional units, sometimes called granny flats, in-law suites, basement suites, laneway homes, accessory dwelling units, and more, permitted on a property through Bill 140 (Strong Communities through Affordable Housing Act, 2011); Bill 108 (More Homes, More Choice Act, 2019); and Bill 23 (More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022).

“Ensuring that everyone in Bruce County has housing that is suitable and attainable to them at every life stage requires creativity and embracing new ideas of what housing can be. Creating additional residential units is a way to unlock more housing supply, while increasing the diversity of housing options in our communities," said Tania Dickson, Manager of Housing Services with Bruce County. "Increasing the affordable housing stock is a key strategy in Bruce County’s Housing and Homelessness Plan," said Dickson.

It is broadly accepted that housing is considered affordable when a household is not spending more than 30 percent of its collective income on housing costs, the release said. The province has also defined affordable housing thresholds for households of low and moderate income. For ownership housing, the affordable housing threshold is housing that is affordable to households with incomes at the 60th percentile. For renter households, the affordable housing threshold is 100 percent of average market rent as published by Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation (CMHC). In Bruce County, the affordable housing thresholds for 2020 were rents below $1,014 and ownership costs below $346,600.

To view the Guide, visit www.brucecounty.on.ca/additional-residential-units.