Brampton, Chatham-Kent receive Building Faster funds
The Ontario government has handed out just shy of another $26 million to two municipalities for making progress against their 2023 housing targets.
At over $25.5 million, Brampton will receive most of the money from the Building Faster Fund. The province says the city has made substantial progress towards meeting its 2023 housing target. Brampton broke ground on a total of 7,028 new housing units last year.
“This is a significant step toward improving Brampton’s housing supply crisis by providing more attainable housing options for residents, creating a future that is more stable and secure,” said Mayor Patrick Brown. “Last year, the city made significant strides toward hitting our housing target and this year, we anticipate building activity will continue to be strong. As the fastest growing big city in the country, investing in housing isn’t just about building the structures, it is about building communities and ensuring residents always have somewhere to call home.”
Chatham-Kent, meanwhile, collected $440,000 in funding after exceeding its 2023 housing target. The municipality broke ground on a total of 522 new housing units last year, unlocking an additional $146,667 by exceeding their 2023 target.
“Our government is making historic investments in infrastructure to give municipalities the tools they need to ensure that every resident has an affordable place to call home,” said Rob Flack, Associate Minister of Housing. “Chatham-Kent and all other municipalities that have met or exceeded their housing targets should be proud of the work they have done to get shovels in the ground faster.”
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 percent of their provincially assigned housing target for the year with increased funding for municipalities that exceed their target.
Ten percent – or $120 million – of fund has been 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.
The province says it plans to make more funding announcements in the coming weeks.