Ottawa is getting over $37.5M from the Ontario government for nearly reaching its provincially mandated housing target for 2023.
Premier Doug Ford announced the funding at a press conference on Friday morning, where he praised Ottawa from making “substantial progress” on the homebuilding front and breaking ground on 10,313 new homes last year. Ottawa came in just shy of its target for 2023, which was set at 11,073.
“That's 10,313 families that are gonna have a roof over their head. And I just find that absolutely amazing,” Ford told reporters on Friday. “So I'm pleased to present the City of Ottawa with a Building Faster Fund cheque for more than $37.5M. These funds can be used by the city for community development and infrastructure projects that lay the groundwork for more housing.”
In addressing Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe, Ford later added: “I'm hoping to come back next year to give you an even larger cheque.”
The funds will come out of the Building Faster Fund, a three-year, $1.2B program unveiled by the Province back in August. The fund is designed to benefit municipalities that reach at least 80% of their provincially assigned housing target for the year. Municipalities that have exceeded their targets for 2023 can expect to receive “bonus funding,” the Province has also said.
Ottawa reached 93% of its goal for 2023, which the province considers to be “on track.” However, it doesn’t qualify the city for any “bonus” funding.
Even so, the $37.5M that’s going to Ottawa is the second-highest Building Faster Fund cheque that’s been distributed to date. Toronto nabbed the highest sum in mid-February, at $114M. (But mind you, Toronto sailed past its 2023 target by a margin of 51%.)
Over the past month and a half, Ford has more or less handed out a few of these Building Faster Fund cheques a week — and we’re keeping track so you don’t have to. There have been 24 cheques handed out to date.
