This year the city's goal is an "ambitious" 350 new homes.

Thunder Bay - 256 new homes were started last year, and if you ask the city's Housing Accelerator Fund project manager, Summer Stevenson, that's good news.

"We've had great success," Stevenson said. "We've exceeded our target (for new housing starts) by over 100%."

Stevenson said the city started 256 new homes last year, well above the provincial target of 187 new housing starts.

She expects the provincial target this year to be around 200, but she said the city's internal target is much higher.

Stevenson hopes to see 350 new homes started by 2025.

"We know that we need to build 350 new homes each year to close the housing gap, ensure Thunder Bay has enough housing for people, and achieve our high-growth goals.

"That's the number we're focused on, and that's the number we want to reach," she said.

"Thunder Bay is now fully committed to growth, and we need to make sure we're prepared for that growth. This is a very good sign for the coming years.

"Based on surveys conducted by the building services department before permits and the results of the Housing Accelerator Fund, we are very confident that next year will be another very busy year.

She said: "Our application volume is very high, and we are about to approve 59 projects, totaling nearly 500 units."

"We're really excited to see this momentum, because we're excited about building Thunder Bay, and we look forward to working with everyone in 2025 to help Thunder Bay achieve its ambitious goal of 350 housing starts per year," she said.

Over the past few years, the number of single-family homes in the city has declined, while the number of multi-unit residential buildings has increased.

Stevenson said it's exciting to see the increase in multi-unit projects.

"When we talk about multi-unit housing starts, it ranges from duplexes to 72-unit apartment buildings. There's a lot of variety, providing more opportunities for people looking to enter the housing market and for those looking to downsize. We think that's a good thing.

She said: "We look forward to continuing to promote this housing diversity as we advance the Housing Accelerator Fund program."

Stevenson said multi-unit buildings are key to achieving the city's high internal target.

"If we look at our Housing Accelerator Fund, there are incentives for multi-unit buildings. There are none for single-family homes, mainly because we know that when our target is 350 homes, multi-unit housing gets us closer to that goal. Another thing to consider is the available land that is ready for development.

"For us, we're thinking about how to increase the density of the city. That means adding more units on our existing infrastructure, because we know that will help address our infrastructure deficit. That's our main focus in the current program," she said.

Stevenson said the Housing Accelerator Fund distributed over $8 million in 2024. She said applications for 2025 will reopen in the spring.