Are you looking for a great place to live?

Are you looking for a great place to raise a family?

Are you looking to get out of the overcrowded big city? 

Then Innisfil may be the place for you…Keep reading to find out some of the Pros and Cons of living in Innisfil, Ontario. The good and the bad. 

Innisfil is what you might call a small town. It is located about an hour north of Toronto. It borders Hwy 27 on the west and Lake Simcoe on the east and the population is about 44,000 people.  Highway 400 runs right through Innisfil and there are two exits. One is at Highway 89, referred to as Cookstown and then Innisfil Beach Road which leads to Alcona. Now Innisfil is a big town geographically. Diagonally across it would probably take you a half an hour to get from one corner to the opposite corner.  The largest settlement area of Innisfil is Alcona, so much of what I talk about refers to Alcona. 

This area is very popular with people from south of here. Toronto, York region, Brampton, Mississauga, The GTA, The Greater Toronto Area.  We get a ton of people moving from there to Innisfil, but I don’t hear of many people who want to move from Innisfil to the GTA. I’m sure there are some people who get up here and decide it’s not for them and then move back but for the most part people are moving north and they are buying in Innisfil for any number of reasons.  Lifestyle, cheaper housing, less crowded.

I’m going to list the Pros and Cons of living in Innisfil. I’ll start with the pros.

1. Lake Simcoe.  One of the biggest draws to Innisfil is Lake Simcoe, which is the body of water that the town is alongside of. Lake Simcoe is part of the Trent Severn Waterway so there is a wide range of boating options you can get to from Innisfil.   With living close to the lake there comes the benefits of swimming, boating and fishing and just hanging out at the water on a hot July day. Innisfil Beach Park is the main beach in Innisfil and it can get very busy on the weekends in the summer. The funny thing is, much of the beach traffic on the weekends are visitors from Toronto. Much to the dismay of the longtime residents.

In the winter the lake freezes and you can venture out on the ice. People ice fish out there, ride snowmobiles and ATVs, go skating or you can just go for a walk on the ice. Some people drive their cars and trucks out there. I’m not recommending it, you do it at your own risk. It’s not unusual to see a couple hundred people out there on a cold Saturday afternoon in February. 

2. Another pro of living in Innisfil is reasonably priced housing. Now when I say reasonable,  I am comparing Innisfil to areas south of here in the GTA like Toronto, Brampton, Mississauga, and York Region. The average price for a detached home in Innisfil was $931,000 in August 2025, Compare that to Toronto where a typical detached home will set you back over $1,524,000  And in York Region it is $1,475,000 and Mississauga you are looking at $1,363,000  So yes, compared to those areas Innisfil is very reasonable. You can get a detached house here for half a million dollars less than it would cost you down there. 

3.Traffic: If you currently live south of Innisfil, like in Toronto and the GTA, you will notice the traffic is significantly lighter in Innisfil. If you listen to old timers around Innisfil you will hear complaining about how much worse the traffic has gotten, I notice it too. That just comes with the amount of growth, but compared to anywhere south of here it’s a cakewalk. The main road between Alcona and Hwy 400, Innisfil Beach Road, can get quite busy and there are a few congestion points.  But it generally moves along pretty quickly. You won’t get the situation here where you are waiting for 2 cycles of traffic lights just to get through an intersection. 

4. Close to Toronto.  If you commute everyday to your job or have family that still lives in Toronto, it is only an hour away. I wouldn’t want to live there but it is a nice place to visit for short periods of time. They have got a lot of good stuff down there. You got your sports teams, Maple Leafs if you can afford the tickets. And then there are the tourist attractions, All the stuff you already know about if you live in Toronto. One thing that they have down there that we don’t have up here, I personally don’t really care about this, but they have IKEA. People love IKEA,  so if you want IKEA, you have to head south. There is Go train service from Barrie that is very popular with commuters but there are currently no stations in Innisfil. You would either have to head north into Barrie and get on at the Barrie south Go Station. (but then that adds 15 minutes to your commute) or you could head south to Bradford Go station. If you can work your schedule around the Go trains, it is an excellent way to commute. There is a plan for a GO Train station at the sixth line in Innisfil but you know how the government works so it could be years before we see that happen. 

Or you can drive up and down Highway 400 which is what the majority of people do.  

I’ll move on to the cons now. Everywhere you live there will be things you don’t like. 

1. Snow.    Probably the biggest con you will experience when you live in Innisfil is the snow.  If you are moving up from south of here you are going to notice a big difference in wintertime.  And depending on how much you like your outdoor exercise, you may want to invest in a snowblower. We can have a good year for snow or we can have a bad year. Some years it can feel like you are out there every day shoveling snow. You are probably going to need snow tires. Depending on how much you drive, snow tires are recommended. I mean, you can get by without them, I did for years. But about 10 years ago I bought myself a set of snow tires and they made a huge difference in the winter. One negative about snow tires is that you have an extra set of tires taking up space in your garage, Either you have summer tires in there in the winter or winter tires in there in the summer. 

With all this snow the school buses sometimes get cancelled and then the kids get a free day. 

2. Innisfil is lacking for Health care services. There are a few dentists and chiropractor/physiotherapist clinics and not many doctor offices. That being said, there is the Rizzardo Health and Wellness Centre which is a large complex at the corner of Innisfil Beach Road and Yonge St. It’s a pretty good place, I have been there for aches and pains myself but there is a need for more. And that is coming in the future! Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre, or Royal Victoria Hospital for us old people, is proposing a new campus at the corner of Innisfil Beach Road and Yonge St. Right across the road from the Rizzardo building. The plan is for 5-8 years out so we’ll wait and see how that progresses.  

3. Shopping: There are limited shopping locations in Innisfil. The Tangers Outlet Mall is located at Hwy 89 and 400. It is a big indoor mall typical of suburbia but it has no grocery stores. It is a car centered mall. Nobody is walking to the outlet mall. In Alcona, which is the biggest population center in Innisfil,  there is shopping along the main strip. A couple of grocery stores, a Canadian Tire store, a Home Hardware, numerous plazas with different types of smaller stores in them. Smaller restaurants, there are no big chain sit down restaurants like Kelsey's or Boston Pizza. If you are shopping for clothes or household stuff like say.. Furniture and housewares, you will be driving into Barrie for stuff like that. Or to the Outlet mall. 

4. You will need a car.  Public transit in Innisfil is almost non-existent. If you are thinking you are going to move up here and get by without a car, then Innisfil is not for you. In bigger cities people can rely on public transit to get around but not so much in Innisfil. It is a car centered town. They partnered with Uber a few years ago to develop a public transit program where users can get rideshares at reduced rates and the remainder is covered by the town. I have never used Uber and I’m not a public transit rider so I can’t comment on how effective the program is. I see good and bad comments online about riders' experiences with it. 

 Innisfil is a low density town, spread out and built on urban sprawl.  You pretty well have to drive everywhere. If you are used to a transit type lifestyle, you will have to make some adjustments if you move to Innisfil. 

So there you have it—some of the pros and cons of living in Innisfil. Like anywhere, it comes down to lifestyle and what’s most important to you, but for many people, Innisfil strikes the right balance between small-town living and easy access to the city.

If you’re thinking about making the move and want to buy a home in Innisfil, reach out. —I’d be happy to help you find the right place. 

Are we about to see faster, more affordable homebuilding across Canada?

Well, the federal government seems to think so—and they’re backing it up with a bold new plan: a national Housing Design Catalogue.

It’s like flipping through a ready-to-build blueprint book for homes across the country. And if it works as intended, it could seriously streamline how we get homes approved and built.

I’m James Myers, a realtor based in Barrie and Simcoe County. In this post, I’m going to break down what this catalogue is, how it works, and why it matters—whether you're a builder, a homeowner, or just someone trying to understand how we can fix Canada’s housing crunch.

🧱 WHAT IS THE HOUSING DESIGN CATALOGUE?

Back in the post-WWII era, Canada used something similar—standard home designs that helped get houses built fast for returning veterans and growing families. Now in 2025, the federal government is bringing that concept back—with a modern twist.

The Housing Design Catalogue is a collection of pre-approved, high-quality home designs. Builders, developers, and municipalities will be able to use these plans to fast-track approvals and construction. Think of it as a ready-made toolbox for housing.

The catalogue will include:

• Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs)
  

• Fourplexes
  

• Six-plexes
  

• Row housing

Mid-rise buildings might come later, but for now, they’re focusing on “missing middle” housing—that sweet spot between single-family homes and condos.

So what exactly is in this Catalogue, and how real are these designs?

It’s not just conceptual – the Catalogue offers 50 fully-realized, low-rise housing models, developed by regional architecture and engineering teams. They’re organized into seven regional chapters—Atlantic Canada, Quebec, Ontario, Prairies, British Columbia, Alberta, and the Territories—so each design matches local building codes, climate zones, and construction methods 

In Ontario there will be two Accessory Dwelling Units designs. A one bedroom model and a three bedroom model. 

Two styles of fourplexs, two styles of stacked townhouses and one design for a sixplex.

🔧 How flexible are these designs?

Each model is fully adaptable. Builders can adjust elements like cladding, roofing, and finishes. The renderings are illustrative—they’re customizable to local tastes, materials, and construction styles  

Plus, there's a strong emphasis on accessibility and energy efficiency. Many designs include accessible-ready units and meet or exceed building code requirements 

🏗️ WHY IS THIS HAPPENING NOW?

Let’s be real. Canada’s in a housing crunch. We need to build millions of new homes—and we need to build them faster, cheaper, and smarter. But right now, developers face delays from zoning issues, permit red tape, and design review processes that slow everything down.

This catalogue aims to solve some of that.

By using standardized designs that are already reviewed and optimized, builders can:

• Save time on approvals
  

• Cut down design costs
  

• And potentially even speed up construction through prefabrication
  

That means more homes, built faster, with fewer roadblocks.

🧩 FLEXIBILITY & INNOVATION

One of the most exciting parts? These aren’t cookie-cutter homes. The catalogue is designed to offer flexibility—so builders can tweak finishes, adapt to local materials, and even use modular or prefabricated techniques.

The government also wants these designs to go beyond minimum building codes—aiming for:

• Better energy efficiency
  

• Accessibility-friendly layouts
  

• Designs that support aging in place or hybrid work

It’s like they’re future-proofing homes before the first shovel even hits the ground.

• ✔️ Universal design
  

• ✔️ Energy-efficient
  

• ✔️ Prefab ready
  

• ✔️ Digital format
  

📅 WHEN IS THIS HAPPENING?

So, what’s the timeline?

📌 Summer 2024 – The government put out a call for design proposals. Architects and builders submitted plans for inclusion in the catalogue.

📌 In Spring 2025 the first version of the catologue was launched. .

After that, the plan is to keep it evolving—with new designs, competitions, and private-sector contributions. It’s not just a one-time PDF download—it’s meant to grow alongside Canada’s housing needs.

As of July 2025, I couldn’t find any date on the CMHC website of when the final designs are going to be released, but there is a form to fill out on the website to be notified when final architectural design packages are available. I filled out the form and signed up and I recommend you go there and fill out the form if you are interested yourself.  

🏛️ WHAT ABOUT LOCAL ZONING & PERMITS?

Here’s where it gets a bit tricky—and where collaboration really matters.

The catalogue won’t magically override local zoning or building rules. There are still rules you have to follow. 

Now, just because the federal government is rolling out this Catalogue doesn’t mean it overrides local rules. Every city, town, and province still controls its own zoning, permitting, and building codes. For instance in Barrie, there has to be sufficient parking and there are lot setback regulations for Accessory Dwelling Units. Same kind of things I’m sure there are in most municipalities.  

But here’s the good news—the government knows that, and they’re working closely with provinces and municipalities to make these designs easier to use.

They’re developing tools to help fast-track approvals, including:

• Sample bylaws cities can adopt to allow things like ADUs and fourplexes in more neighbourhoods.
  

• Templates for fast-track approvals, where catalogue designs could be pre-reviewed by building departments.
  

• And digital permitting systems to help planning offices move things along more quickly and consistently.

So the goal here is a smoother, faster process—from design selection to shovels in the ground. But ultimately, it’ll still come down to local governments choosing to adopt these tools and streamline their own approval processes.

🏘️ WHO BENEFITS FROM THIS?

Whether you’re in a major city or a rural town, the catalogue could have a major impact:

• Builders get pre-approved designs, lowering costs and risk.
  

• Municipalities get housing faster without sacrificing review quality.
  

• Buyers and renters get more homes on the market—which should help affordability.

And rural and northern communities may benefit from the single-family and prefab designs that make building in remote areas more feasible.

Canada needs more homes—and fast. The Housing Design Catalogue is a fresh, forward-thinking approach that could make a real difference. By cutting through some of the usual red tape and offering ready-to-go designs, this initiative has the potential to unlock a lot of new housing, in all the right places.

It's a promising step, and honestly, it's exciting to see solutions like this taking shape.

If you’re thinking of building, investing, or just want to stay informed about changes in the housing market,  or if you have any questions about how this might affect you or your community—reach out. I’m always happy to help.