Ontario has announced a new fund to help streamline housing in the province’s largest municipalities.
The Streamline Development Approval Fund was announced today during a Municipal summit, featuring Premier Doug Ford, Steve Clark, the Minister of Municipal Affairs, and multiple big city mayors. The summit, held virtually, provided provincial-municipal leaders with an opportunity how best to tackle the provinces growing housing problem.
“Young families, seniors and all hardworking Ontarians are desperate for housing that meets their needs and budget,” said Ford.
“At a time when our province is growing, our government will continue to use every tool we have to help municipalities get more homes built faster to help more families realize the dream of home ownership.”
The fund will provide 39 of the province’s largest municipalities over $45 million in funding. The funding can be used in a multitude of ways, such as implementing online systems to make housing applications easier to manage.
Along with the funding, an additional measure is planned to help get more Ontarians into homes. The province committed to working with the municipal sector to develop a standard for planning and development. The hope is to improve data quality, consistency, ease of use, and reduce costs.
Minister Clark says Ontario’s housing crisis is not something that can be solved overnight.
“Today’s Summit was an important next step to identify what additional measures we can take to increase the supply of housing and make it easier for Ontarians and their families to find a home that meets their needs and budget. As we continue this dialogue, our government will ensure municipalities have the tools and resources they need to unlock housing in every community across Ontario.”
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