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The cost of building a house in Georgina is going up in September

August 8, 2025

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By Karen Wolfe

If you are planning to build a new house in Georgina, be prepared to pay higher development charges.

In 2021, the cost of building a house in Georgina included development charges (DCs) owed to the Town of Georgina of $18,000. And four years later, when the new Development Charges by-law goes into effect in September, the builder of that same house will be required to pay $35,910, an increase of 99.5 per cent.

Once the York Region and Education DCs are included, a single family home on services in Georgina will be charged $137,737 even before the shovel hits the ground. (Note: Between 2021 and 2025, the Town had increased their DCs from $18,000 to $24,584 so the increase from today’s rate will be 46 per cent.)

The idea behind DCs is that growth will pay for growth so every five years, the Town conducts a Development Charges Background Study that predicts growth and the cost of amenities needed to meet that growth.

The 2025 DC Background Study is being conducted a year early and predicts a growth rate of 14.1 per cent within the next 10 years bringing Georgina’s population from 50,279 in 2025 to 57,384 in 2034.

And, the capital cost to meet the needs of that growth is predicted to be $189.9 million although DCs collected over that period of time will not cover the entire cost. Here is a breakdown of other revenue sources required to pay for the new services:

Development Charges $85.2 million
Grants & Subsidies $ 8.4 million
Available DC reserves $21.9 million
Other Development Related $34.3 million
Tax levy (existing benefit) $39.8 million *
Gross Cost of new service $189.9 million

*The tax levy portion of support for new growth pertains to projects that provide a benefit to the existing population.

According to the 2025 Development Charges Background Study, the total capital cost for new fire and rescue services will be $60.3 million, new parks and recreation amenities will cost $105.4 million and the balance of the $189.9 million will beef up public works, roads and storm water services.

The recoverable DCs for new fire and rescue services will be $11.8 million leaving a projected tax levy of $22.7 million to support those projects. The Parks and Recreation recoverable DC amount will be $56.4 million and a tax levy amount of $16.7 million will be required to support these new amenities.

The DC Background Study details the type of projects that will be funded over the next 10 years and when those projects should come on stream.

Starting in 2025, the fire department will see a new training facility at a cost of $1.65 million which will be built entirely from DCs with the exception of a $550,000 grant. 2025 will also see the completed design of a new fire hall that will be built on land adjacent to the MURC in south Keswick. This $20.4 million building will not require tax levy monies since it will receive $6.1 million in grants and $14.2 million in DC support.

By the end of the 10 year period, the Town will have purchased land, designed and built a new fire hall in north Keswick and the current fire hall will be decommissioned at that time. The new Keswick north fire hall is expected to cost $30.6 million and $22.1 million of that capital cost will be supported by the tax levy since the existing population will lose the protection of the current fire hall. Vehicles and equipment needed for these new fire stations will cost approximately $5.2 million–$4.6 million from DCs and $592,000 from the tax levy.

By far the largest growth in services over the next 10 years will be for new parks and recreation amenities. The DC background study has flagged gross costs of $69.8 million to build new trails, park development projects and park buildings. (A total of $33.1 million DCs will be collected to recover debt related payments for the current MURC and the Julia Munro Park.)

In addition to the $52.2 million in DCs to build the new recreation facilities, the total tax levy that is forecasted to be needed will be $16.7 million. The gross capital budget forecast in the DC Background Study will support a number of new parks in various new developments, two new trails and a $4.2 million park at the MURC.

Throughout the 10 year forecast, the Town will also collect DCs to pay for the concepts presented within the Waterfront Master Plan in 2023. These include design components and upgrades to Willow Beach, Young’s Harbour, Jackson’s Point Harbour, Bonnie Park, Malone Wharf, Adeline Park, De La Salle Park, Holmes Point Park and North Gwillimbury Park. These park updates will cost tax payers $16.7 million of the $45.5 million in capital costs needed to deliver the new amenities outlined in the Waterfront Master Plan.

While DCs primarily cover the capital costs for new facilities, the operating costs such as overhead and staffing are the responsibility of the taxpayer.

At a recent council meeting when council reviewed the details of the 2025 study, Victoria Mortelliti, a representative from a group representing developers, Build GTA, asked council to schedule another consultation meeting with her group to address concerns around the potential increase. She said her group understands that development charges are a tool to address the costs of growth but they need to be fair, transparent and reflective of current market conditions.

“Right now we are experiencing consumer apprehension, tariffs, and material price unpredictability making it increasingly difficult for us to advance projects,” she said adding, the market slow down is completely striking.

“When it comes to Georgina, in 2021 the Town reported 277 single family home sales and 26 condo sales and when we look at 2024, those numbers dropped dramatically to just 34 and four, a decline of 88 per cent and 85 per cent respectively,” she said. “These figures highlight the fragility of this housing market and the importance of proceeding with caution when considering further cost increases.”

Ms. Mortelliti said the doubling of Georgina’s DCs within the last four years could risk the pace and slow down much needed development. “Municipalities who are leaning a little too aggressively on DCs are seeing projects stalled,” she said.

With York Region preparing to adopt a development charges deferral program later this year, (a practice Ms. Mortelliti said she would like to see Georgina participate in) and the implications of Bill 17, which is an act to expand development charge deferrals, she said these pending decisions further highlight the importance of a steady approach when preparing the final by-law for council’s review.

Regional Councillor Naomi Davison felt Ms. Mortelliti’s categorization of Georgina’s DC increase of almost double in four years was unfair because she said Georgina’s DC charges were the lowest in York Region. However, since every York Region municipality has a different DC background study that determines their DC charges, it does not make sense to compare apples to oranges when each municipality has a list of different DC sponsored projects.

It could be the 2025 Development Charges Background Study is being a little too aggressive when forecasting future population growth and the potential DC eligible revenues. With current signs of a slow-down in development together with both the Federal and Provincial governments hinting at programs that could see a reduction in the eligible DC revenues to foster more affordable housing, Georgina’s treasurer may have to go back to the calculator to make adjustments to predicted service levels. But it is a wait-and-see game at this point.