On August 21st, 2023, the Ontario government launched the Building Faster Fund, a three-year, CA$1.2 billion program that provides significant new funding based on a municipality's performance in participating in achieving provincial housing targets.
The Ontario government has assigned housing targets to 21 additional municipalities as part of its plan to build at least 1.5 million homes by 2031. Municipalities participating will have access to the new Building Faster Fund, once they have agreed to achieve their targets.
Building Faster Fund
The CA$1.2 billion fund will provide up to CA$400 million per year to municipalities that have committed in writing to achieve their overall housing target for 2031. A portion of the overall funding will be reserved, specifically for small, rural, and northern communities that have not yet been assigned a housing target, amounting to 10%.
Each municipality's portion of the CA$400 million annual allocation will be determined based on their share of the overall provincial housing goal, including their performance compared to their annual targets. For instance, a municipality representing 10% of the province-wide target will be eligible for 10% of the Building Faster Fund. Municipalities must achieve 80% of their annual targets to be able to access a portion of their allocation and Municipalities exceeding their target will be eligible to receive additional funding. The Building Faster Fund provides double the funding for every 1% above 100% of a municipality's target.
Examples:
- A municipality reaches 80% of their annual housing target and
receives CA$32 million
($40 million x 90% = $36 million) - A municipality reaches 105% of their annual housing target and receives CA$44 million ($40 million x 100% + (5% x 2= 10%)
The housing target for the first year, 2023, will be 110,000 province-wide. The target will increase over time until 1.5 million homes are built by 2031.
Expanding strong Mayor powers
Municipalities participating will be given strong mayor powers by October 31, 2023, if their head of council has committed, in writing, to meeting their targets by October 15, 2023.
Significance of the Building Faster Fund for land owners
The enactment of Bill 23 – More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022 introduced numerous changes to the Development Charges Act and Planning Act, that impacted how municipal governments recover the costs associated with growth. In response to the concerns and potential impact of Bill 23, Minister Clark wrote to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario in 2022, confirming that the Ontario government is committed to ensuring that municipalities are kept "whole" and that they do not encounter shortfalls in funding for road, water, sewer and other housing enabling infrastructure and services required to grow communities.
Fast forward to present, the Building Faster Fund allows potential for land owners and developers to work with the participating Municipalities and assist in reaching their housing unit targets. Reaching and/or exceeding housing targets provided by the Province will unlock funding to support current and future developments within these communities and combat issues of lack of funding for housing enabling infrastructure required to support growth.
Municipality targets
| Halton Hills | 9500 |
| Aurora | 8000 |
| Bradford West Gwillimbury | 6500 |
| Kawartha Lakes | 6500 |
| Whithurch-Stouffville | 6500 |
| New Tecumseth | 6400 |
| Innisfil | 6300 |
| Georgina | 6200 |
| Norfolk County | 5700 |
| Woodstock | 5500 |
| Peterborough City | 4700 |
| East Gwillimbury | 4300 |
| Welland | 4300 |
| Haldimand County | 4200 |
| Greater Sudbury | 3800 |
| Belleville | 3100 |
| Thunder Bay | 2200 |
| Sault Ste. Marie | 1500 |
| Chatham-Kent | 1100 |
| North Bay | 1000 |
| Sarnia | 1000 |
| Toronto | 285,000 |
| Ottawa | 151,000 |
| Mississauga | 120,000 |
| Brampton | 113,000 |
| Hamilton | 47,000 |
| London | 47,000 |
| Markham | 44,000 |
| Vaughan | 42,000 |
| Kitchener | 35,000 |
| Oakville | 33,000 |
| Burlington | 29,000 |
| Richmond Hill | 27,000 |
| Oshawa | 23,000 |
| Barrie | 23,000 |
| Milton | 21,000 |
| Cambridge | 19,000 |
| Guelph | 18,000 |
| Whitby | 18,000 |
| Ajax | 17,000 |
| Waterloo | 16,000 |
| Windsor | 13,000 |
| Clarington | 13,000 |
| Pickering | 13,000 |
| Caledon | 13,000 |
| Newmarket | 12,000 |
| St. Catharines | 11,000 |
| Brantford | 10,000 |
| Kingston | 8000 |
| Niagara Falls | 8000 |
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