The Ontario government is looking into the number of student housing and retirement homes to achieve its goal of building 1.5 million homes.

The government confirmed this intention in a letter sent to the City of Mississauga at the end of March in response to a request to change the way housing is counted at the municipal level.

In the letter, Housing Minister Paul Calandra said his office is exploring whether to track "other institutional types of housing" while working to achieve its housing target.

This includes student housing and retirement homes. Calandra wrote: "We will continue to explore data sources to track numbers of other institutional housing types such as student housing and retirement homes for future program years and commit to engaging municipalities on the matter."

The province uses housing starts to calculate progress made on the 2021 campaign promise by the Progressive Conservatives to build 1.5 million homes.

Housing start is also defined by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) as "the start of construction work on a building in which the dwelling unit will be located."

The figures used in the provincial budget show that 88,000 homes are expected to begin construction in 2024.

This number is expected to slowly increase over the next three years, but remains below the over 100,000 homes per year needed to reach its goal.

On the other hand, provincial statistics indicate that 109,011 new homes were created in Ontario in 2023. This includes 9,835 beds in long-term care homes, which the government also chose to consider as housing, a move opposition parties have said inflates the measurements in use and does not give a true picture.

Premier Doug Ford has defended the inclusion of long-term care beds several times, saying it challenges those who criticize the decision to tell an elder that they do not live in a home.

Ford told reporters in March: "When an elderly person moving from an apartment to long-term care, it’s called a home."

Adding, "They have their own room. And they eat in the dining room with everyone else."

Using this argument, it seems Ford’s government could try to place student housing under this umbrella.

However, CMHC does not count housing units that do not have a private entrance, kitchen, and bathroom.

This includes nursing homes, student housing, and hostels.

They also do not count mobile homes that are not permanently attached to the site and seasonal cottages that are not occupied year-round.