PICKERING — On Wednesday, Premier Doug Ford announced Ontario will be providing Pickering with $5,200,000 in funding through the Building Faster Fund as the city has exceeded its 2023 housing target, breaking ground on a total of 1,502 new housing units last year.
“Pickering is getting it done on housing and we are proud to reward them for their success,” said Premier Doug Ford. “I’m so proud of Mayor Kevin Ashe and his council colleagues for exceeding their housing targets last year. My challenge to Mayor Ashe and to every mayor in Ontario is to get even more homes built in the coming years so we can make life more affordable and keep the dream of homeownership alive for families across the province. We’ll be there to support you every step of the way.”
Great job, @CityofPickering, for getting it done by building more than 1,500 new homes last year!
I was thrilled to present @MayorKevinAshe with $5.2 million through our Building Faster Fund to celebrate Pickering’s success.https://t.co/bB2ZehEJYv pic.twitter.com/VlogNtwdx0
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) March 13, 2024
Announced in August 2023, the Building Faster Fund is a three-year, $1.2 billion program that is designed to encourage municipalities to address the housing supply crisis. The fund rewards municipalities that make significant progress against their targets by providing funding for housing-enabling and community-enabling infrastructure. Funding is provided to municipalities that have reached at least 80 per cent of their provincially assigned housing target for the year with increased funding for municipalities that exceed their target.
“As Pickering will be one of Durham’s largest cities, we are steadfast in our commitment to creating a sustainable, interconnected, and flourishing community that offers a diverse array of housing choices for all residents,” said Kevin Ashe, Mayor of Pickering. “I extend my thanks to Premier Ford and the Province of Ontario for the funding provided through the Building Faster Fund, which will be instrumental in building homes faster and ensuring attainable and affordable housing options. Thank you to City staff for their tremendous work in all facets of planning and development as well as building and construction, which has helped to address this housing crisis.”
Any unspent funding from the Building Faster Fund will be made available for housing-enabling infrastructure to all municipalities, including those that have already received funding as a result of reaching their targets, through an application process. In addition, ten per cent – or $120 million – of the Building Faster Fund is being set aside for small, rural and northern municipalities to help build housing-enabling infrastructure and prioritize projects that speed up the increase of housing supply.
Quick Facts
- In 2023, Ontario reached 99 per cent of its target of 110,000 new homes, which includes housing starts, additional residential units and new and upgraded long-term care beds.
- Ontario broke ground on 18,992 rental starts in 2023, the highest number of rental starts on record.
- The province saw nearly 10,000 additional residential units created in 2023 – which includes changing single family homes into multi-unit residences or converting commercial office space into residential use – and nearly 10,000 new and upgraded long-term care beds.
- Ontario has introduced significant investments in municipalities to support housing-enabling infrastructure, including $200 million over three years for the Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund and the $400 million annual Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund.
Quotes
“This new funding is a hard-earned reward for Pickering as the community has worked to meet and exceed its housing target and help tackle the housing supply crisis. Our government has proven time and time again that we are ready to support municipalities as they build the homes our communities need to grow and we are never going to stop working to make Ontario the best place to live, work and buy a home.”
– Peter Bethlenfalvy
MPP for Pickering-Uxbridge
“I applaud the work being done by Pickering and all the other municipalities that have met or exceeded their housing targets and I’m proud to see these communities helping lead the province when it comes to building homes. Our government is committed to reaching our goal of building 1.5 million homes by 2031 to make sure that everyone has an affordable place to call home.”
– Paul Calandra
Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing
SOURCE Province of Ontario
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