All three levels of government have announced that they have finalized a renewed Canada Community-Building Fund (CCBF) agreement that will ensure that critical infrastructure that supports housing continues to be built, maintained, and expanded.

Announced on June 5, the deal will see the federal government invest $4.7 billion over the next five years.

It was announced by Sean Fraser, Canada’s Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, Paul Calandra, Ontario’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Olivia Chow, Mayor of Toronto, and Colin Best, President of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario.

“The renewal of this agreement means that our communities’ roads, bridges, and transit systems will be positioned to accommodate growth,” reads a joint statement released by the parties.

Infrastructure investments support affordable and inclusive communities that Canadians live and work in. The CCBF has paved roads like Rollins Drive and Chelford Crescent in Belleville, renovated community spaces like the Bayview Hill pool in Richmond Hill, and protected public spaces like the Centeen Park seawall in Brockville. The fund provides predictable and sustainable funding for communities to make sure that municipalities can keep making the investments their communities need.

In particular, the deal focuses on the importance of infrastructure in increasing Canada’s housing supply. The parties agreed to work together to strategically invest in projects aligned with regional housing goals. In particular, it highlights three priority goals:

• reporting on affordable units created to meet the needs of communities and increase capacity of the non-profit sector;
• working across all orders of government to leverage public lands to meet housing needs; and
• supporting innovation in construction techniques by committing to a provincial innovation strategy for modular and prefabricated housing, including working with the federal government to develop and adopt a design catalogue.

The Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario praised the deal.

“This funding is crucial for municipalities across Ontario who are facing a growing and unsustainable state of good repair backlog,” said executive director Nadia Todorova. “The City of Toronto alone faces an alarming $26 billion shortfall that, if unaddressed, would carry devastating consequences for quality of life and economic growth.”

“While this announcement is a move in the right direction, it is critical that governments continue to provide long-term infrastructure funding that supports the needs of our growing province for decades to come,” she added.