Thorold city council approved a report backing Community Land Trust of Niagara’s request for vacant city land to develop 60 affordable housing units near St. David Road East and Wellington Street.

Sept. 24, 2026
Updated at 11:49 a.m.

Thorold city council has backed in principle a Niagara non-profit land trust’s bid for a parcel of city land to develop 60 affordable housing units - a move advocates say could help address a growing affordable housing crisis. Community Land Trust of Niagara (CLTN) approached council Sept. 15 about a property north of the intersection of St. David Road East and Wellington Street.

Council agreed but on one stipulation: if the non-profit is not successful in developing the land, ownership reverts to the city.

CLTN is one of about 50 land trusts across Canada working with governments, community groups and developers to prevent the loss of affordable housing. Lori Beech, CLTN vice-chair, and executive director of Second Story Community Homes and Services, formerly Bethlehem Housing and Support Services, asked the City of Thorold to help the group achieve its goal of providing deeply affordable housing for residents in need.

“Rents have gone through the roof. They’re just starting to stabilize, but we still are dealing with not only a housing crisis, but … the further stages of an actual affordability crisis,” she said.

Deeply affordable housing refers to non-market rental units priced at roughly 30 per cent or less of a household’s income. Beech said that in Niagara Regional Housing, when residents meet their income threshold, they would typically move to market housing, but that path is blocked by the crisis.

“There are many folks living in housing and they’ve reached their income thresholds and should be moving out … but there’s nowhere for them to go because the housing that would meet their income level is not available,” she said.

In his October 2022 report, Updating Analysis on Erosion of Lower Rent Stock, McMaster University professor Steve Pomeroy, executive advisor of the Canadian Housing Evidence Collaborative, found that between 2011 and 2021, Canada lost more than 550,000 affordable low-cost housing units priced under $750 per month. That represents the equivalent of 46,000 units per year, or about six per cent of the total unsubsidized rental housing stock. Beech outlined why CLTN is needed, as the region has about 12,000 families waiting for affordable housing in Niagara.

“You can see these numbers are, may I say, quite ridiculous, because there’s nowhere for people to go, there are no available affordable housing options or very few,” she said.

“Housing under our organization, we have long wait lists as well.”

CLTN would own the units in the development and ensure they remain affordable for precariously housed and unhoused residents. Bill VanderKlippe, a member of the One Thorold housing committee, cited a need to “firm up partnerships with businesses, agencies and governments,” before a definitive plan can be put in place.

“Nobody’s going to ante up if there is not a piece of property,” he said.

“You can see these numbers are, may I say quite ridiculous, because there’s nowhere for people to go.” - Lori Beech

VanderKlippe pointed to the report outlining suitable properties CLTN could purchase or have donated for affordable housing in Thorold if a request for proposal was needed. He called it a critical component of the housing initiative, to increase the availability of adequate and/or affordable housing and minimize building costs.

“This is not a disposal of something surplus, rather an allocation of a resource the city has and applying it to a known and recognized need among us,” he said.

“These are actions the city takes routinely as they seek and work to maintain and improve our community.”

Coun. Ken Sentance was agreeable to such a proposal, but wanted staff to obtain legal counsel on how city land could be used to support it.

“That would permit One Thorold to explore the viability of development of the property … with the city retaining the property title and reverting back to the city in the event One Thorold does not proceed with development,” he said.

Sentance said other municipalities have recognized the value for their communities and have stepped up, so it’s time Thorold did the same.

“It’s time we ponied up and put something in motion that gives them the ability to just try it, they’re going to take this from here,” he said.

“If we do this, they’ll be able to develop a business plan and see if they can do it. It’s a no-lose situation, but the upside could be 60 affordable housing units.”

Read full article here: https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/news/council/thorold-council-niagara-land-trust-affordable-housing/article_b764aab7-4bc7-5398-8387-f30dd47dbdcb.html