Guelph mayor calls for unity in state of the city address

A united community is what will help the City of Guelph navigate the many challenges ahead.

That was the overarching theme of Mayor Cam Guthrie’s State-of-the-City address.

He spoke to a group of around 300 people at the Guelph Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, touting the city’s successes over the past year and the many crises the community is facing right now.

“Guelph is at a critical juncture,” he said. “We have a housing crisis, decades in the making, that’s becoming significantly worse over the past few years. Mental health, addictions, and homelessness emergency that cities are ill-equipped to handle alone. An affordability dilemma that’s magnified by federal and provincial downloading or underfunding, and extreme economic uncertainty caused by an irrational trade war, vindictive tariffs, and constantly changing American foreign policy.”

Guthrie spoke about the years of preparation, laying the foundation for the community to thrive in the years to come. Some of those include the Municipal Service and Financing agreement that intends to accelerate residential development. It will allow the developer to front the costs of things like water and sewer pipes to get the homes built, with the city paying them back once construction is complete.

He also motioned policy changes to development applications and a grant partnership with the federal Housing Accelerator Fund to help homeowners add a dwelling unit.

When it comes to affordable housing, Guthrie touted the city’s plan to build 12 new affordable rental units on Normandy Drive and Eastview Road.

He also discussed renter protections with city staff working on a new renoviction bylaw and a rental replacement bylaw. Neither has been passed by council yet.

Affordability was a major focus of the address. Guthrie spoke at length about council’s efforts to keep the city’s portion of the property tax increase reasonable. The total tax levy increase came in at 7.78 per cent, but Guthrie pointed out 3.3 per cent was the city’s portion.

“If we look at budget trends over the past few years, you’ll see where the goal of affordability starts falling apart, and I am deeply concerned,” said Guthrie.

He was quick to point out one of the major causes of property tax increases, which is only adding to the affordability crisis: provincial offloading.

“You see, municipalities are forced to carry unsustainable additional property tax burdens that are directly related to provincial offloading. This has to stop,” he said.

He’s encouraged residents to write to their MP and MPP, telling them to keep the pressure on upper levels of government to come through for the communities most vulnerable.

“We can’t simply request it. We have to demand that provincial and federal partners step up.” Guthrie went on to say, “collectively, Council, staff, community partners, we need, no, we must come together and take action. Through unity comes strength.”

The city will celebrate the opening of two new facilities this year, the South End Community Centre and the new Baker Street Library.

The city will also be spending significant time preparing to host the 2027 Memorial Cup along with the Guelph Storm.