Council Approves Housing Partnership with Windsor Law's Centre for Cities

At the meeting on March 25, 2025, Lakeshore Council approved a groundbreaking local partnership with the Windsor Law’s Centre for Cities (C4C). The innovative partnership is designed to modernize and improve Lakeshore’s planning and development processes and support the achievement of milestones set out in Lakeshore’s Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) Approved Action Plan.  

“This is an incredible opportunity to innovate and modernize our planning and development processes to speed up approvals and incorporate the voices of residents in determining the future of our communities,” said Mayor Tracey Bailey. “The partnership will give our staff, community members, and developers an opportunity to work with an integrated team of professionals who will lend their expertise to fundamentally change how we plan and develop.”

“Taking this next step in our developing partnership with Lakeshore brings us into a closer collaboration,” stated Centre for Cities Director Dr. Anneke Smit. “We are working together to develop cutting-edge and needed systems solutions to address the housing crisis in our region and elsewhere, and to put development in the hands of the municipality.”

In February, Lakeshore received a $7+ million grant from the Government of Canada’s Housing Accelerator Fund. As part of the funding agreement’s Approved Action Plan, Lakeshore must complete nine initiatives. Lakeshore will also need to meet annual housing growth targets and make investments in capital projects over the four-year funding period. A dedicated project leader has been established to deliver the work with an integrated team made up of Lakeshore staff and C4C Housing Systems Innovation Lab team.

The initiatives include community design charettes, review of the Official Plan and Zoning By-law, exploring the use of municipal land for housing projects, as well as the development of an affordable housing strategy and Community Improvement Plan to provide financial incentives for new housing.

“As a regionally focused institution, our goal is to build meaningful relationships with all municipalities in Southwestern Ontario. We are thrilled to be moving forward with our MOU with the Municipality of Lakeshore and to see this important C4C-Lakeshore partnership come to fruition as the first collaboration under this new framework,” said University of Windsor President, Dr. Robert Gordon.

There will be significant opportunity for community involvement in planning the Lakeshore of the future. Stay tuned for updates on housing in Lakeshore by signing up online at Lakeshore.ca/Housing.

Background  

About Windsor Law’s Centre for Cities and its Housing Systems and Innovation Lab

The Centre for Cities (C4C) at Windsor Law supports collaborative research, teaching, and public engagement on the most pressing legal and policy issues for municipalities and local institutions. Their focus is on the tools for building and maintaining sustainable and inclusive communities.

In December of 2023, the Centre for Cities announced the launch of its Housing Systems and Innovation Lab with initial financial support provided by Libro Credit Union. The Lab is organized around a singular systems approach to efficient and appropriate housing production.