Housing construction in Barrie is on pace for a record-breaking year, with city officials announcing Thursday that two new purpose-built rental developments will bring 341 new units—including 69 affordable homes—to the community.
Speaking at a news conference held at the site of a development on Coulter Street, Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall said the city has already seen unprecedented growth in housing starts with around 570 units started during the first four months of 2026.
That marks 170 per cent growth compared to 2025, and is a record amount through the first four months a year for the city.
According to the mayor, the city is currently on pace to see between 2,500 and 3,500 new housing units begin construction this year, which is well above Barrie’s previous annual high of 1,970 units.
The two rental projects, being developed by Street Properties in partnership with YYZed Project Management, include:
- 188 rental units at 53 Coulter Street, including 38 affordable units
- 153 rental units at 375 Yonge Street, including 31 affordable units
Together, the developments form part of Barrie’s broader affordable housing strategy, which the city says now includes more than 770 affordable housing units either approved or under construction.
A big reason the city is seeing the high level in housing development is its development charge waiver (DC) program, which developers could apply for between August 14 and December 31. It aimed to remove some financial barriers for residential developments that are five storeys and above with a signed agreement to provide at least 20 per cent affordable housing.
In a memo to city councillors on Jan. 28, city staff said a total of 12 eligible building permit applications were received, as of Jan. 1. If all applications meet the May 31, 2026 building activity deadline, Barrie could add 1,946 new housing units—456 of them deemed affordable—for a period of 25 years.
Nuttall said the city’s goal is not only to increase housing supply, but to integrate affordable housing throughout the community rather than concentrating it in a single area.
“One of the things I learned growing up in government housing is that you don’t want all of the affordable units to be in one place,” he said. “We want a community that’s really built as one community.”
He added that spreading affordable housing across multiple developments creates “an integrated community where everybody’s living together, working together.”
Construction is already underway at both sites. Sam DiPasquale, director at YYZed Project Management representing the developer of the two sites, credited the city’s approval process with helping move projects forward quickly and added that occupancy at the Coulter Street project is expected to begin within about two years. The Yonge Street development will follow on a similar timeline.
He also emphasized the projects are being designed with larger unit sizes than many newer condominium developments.
“These are livable-sized units,” DiPasquale said. “These are not tiny condo boxes that everybody around here is doing.”
The city says many of the affordable units being developed through its incentive programs are reserved for Barrie residents. Nuttall noted that developers participating in Barrie’s development charge waiver program must agree to prioritize local residents for affordable units.
The mayor also signalled more housing-related announcements could be coming in the weeks ahead.
“We aren’t done yet,” Nuttall said. “There’s work that needs to be done to reduce specifically on purchase housing and home ownership.”
