Community members call on Stratford to improve housing affordability, city says it’s a top priority

Stratford is being called out for its lack of an affordable housing strategy. CTV’s Jeff Pickel has the response from the city.

A group of people concerned about Stratford’s housing plan took the issue straight to council chambers.

Former resident Tanner Bergsma led the group on Tuesday.

“It really comes to light that the city could do a lot better in terms of its housing plan,” Bergsma, who now lives in Waterloo while attending Wilfrid Laurier University, said.

Bergsma also runs a not for profit called Unity Beyond Borders, and said he works with local low income residents who have trouble finding suitable housing.

Bergsma said he met with the city’s housing manager and left feeling the city did not have a good grasp on the affordable housing situation.

“By logic, how can you fix a problem if you don’t understand the problem and understand the statistics of the problem?” said Bergsma.

Bergsma said the city’s approach lacks specific aims at increasing the supply of affordable housing, and is more interested in increasing the overall supply of market rate housing.

According to the city, while they appreciate the concern, Bergsma’s critiques are not accurate.

They said they are in the process of drafting a new housing and homelessness ten-year plan after the previous ten-year plan ended in 2024.

They said using real time data is at the core of it’s decision-making process.

“We use data that we collected locally to identify what the needs are, every month we publish statistics that will show what the current needs are for individuals seeking housing in the community,” said Kim McElroy, director of social services for Stratford and Perth County.

The City of Stratford estimates there are currently 148 people in Perth County who are homeless, including roughly 23 who are unsheltered, a number that has increased since March of this year.

The current waitlist for affordable housing in Stratford is just over 250.

The city said they are currently looking at city owned properties that could be used for affordable housing, but said, like every community, there are challenges.

“The speed of this is slow because there’s a big need, and there’s a limited supply of money,” said Stratford Mayor Martin Ritsma.

Bergsma said he plans to keep the pressure on city council and plans to be back at city hall on the June 23rd meeting.