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Ontario’s government is thinking about tweaking the rules for its billion-dollar housing fund, but some city leaders feel it still doesn’t do enough to solve the housing crunch.
The Building Faster Fund is a three-year, $1.2-billion program that rewards municipalities for building new homes. Still, many cities, including Waterloo, didn’t qualify last year.
This week, Ontario’s housing Minister Rob Flack said the Ford government is discussing changing the criteria for the Building Faster Fund with municipalities. Flack mentioned he’s open to broadening or altering how funding decisions are made, which some local officials think should be based on building permits since those fall under municipal control.
“I want to make sure I say this respectfully … permits are not homes,” Flack said. “Yes, we can issue permits, but we want to see real results.”
Premier Doug Ford seemed to shut down the idea of including building permits as part of the criteria during an unrelated press event on Wednesday.
WATCH |Proposed housing fund change “doesn’t get at what would really start houses’; Waterloo mayor:
Proposed housing fund change “doesn’t get at what would really start houses’; Waterloo mayor
A change might be coming to Ontario’s Building Faster Fund. This fund aims to reward cities that build homes but requires them to hit 80 per cent of their yearly building goals. Waterloo Mayor Dorothy Mc Cabe chatted with CBC K-W’s John Dalusong about what this could mean for her city.
“We’ll sit down and listen [to municipalities], but not based on permits,” Ford said. “Permits don’t result in homes immediately. They’ll eventually result in homes, but not immediately.”
Waterloo Mayor Dorothy Mc Cabe and Cambridge’s general manager of growth, Hardy Bromberg, point out that actual home construction isn’t something they can directly control.
“Even when permits are pulled, a municipality still can’t control when a building starts,” Mc Cabe told Cambridge Chronicle.
Dorothy Mc Cabe is the Mayor of Waterloo. She says the potential change to counting approved permits instead of actual housing starts is a good first step, but doesn’t do enough to address the housing shortage. (Cameron Mahler/CBC)
Mc Cabe sits on Ontario’s Big City Mayors group and has been pushing Premier Ford’s team to adjust how they measure success in this program. She believes cities should be judged on things they actually manage like approvals and permits while both developers and the province tackle hurdles that delay projects.
But she adds that if we really want progress on housing supply then changes need go beyond just counting permits.
In Waterloo specifically, Mc Cabe says there’s plenty of approved housing waiting in line. The council has okayed around 23,000 units within city limits while over 120,000 units have been given approval across the region.
“The province , municipalities and developers need to figure out how these projects actually get started ,” she said. “There are thousands upon thousands of units already approved. We just need shovels in the ground. “
Cambridge struggles with qualifying
Last year , Cambridge also had trouble making it into the Building Faster Fund. At first , they seemed not eligible until errors were found between reported numbers sent by province compared against their own figures on housing starts and additional residential units.
Hardy Bromberg , Cambridge ’ s general manager for planning and growth , welcomed how open provincial officials were about revisiting those stats , yet noted it shows just how limited municipal power can be.
“Municipalities have little authority or ability to create a housing market,” he said. “We process both planning applications and permits … but there’s a gap between what people are willing to pay for a home versus what it costs to bring a home to market.”Cambridge was initially told it did not qualify for funding given out by the province to municipalities for meeting housing targets. They were later successful in proving that the numbers the province had were incorrect. (Kate Bueckert/CBC)
According to Bromberg , switching from counting only starts over actual builds towards looking at building permit approvals would better reflect cities doing their part – though like Mc Cabe , he admits it won’t solve all problems out there.
“It’s very helpful … but it certainly doesn’t address the bigger picture,” Bromberg said.
Bromberg points out Cambridge isn’t alone facing pressure around creating more places people can live – other towns here plus across Canada face similar challenges which will require cooperation from every level of government involved.
He also stressed more involvement from Ontario is needed so developers don’t hit roadblocks starting or finishing projects ; help from Ottawa would definitely be welcome too.
The Building Faster Fund exists mainly so towns can cover infrastructure costs tied into new development like roads or water systems. Allowing permit counts instead of completed builds will make reaching qualification easier.
But according to Mc Cabe that’s just one piece:
“It’s another piece of it , but I don’t know that it’ll fix everything ,” she remarked.” Permits can be pulled , but it doesn ‘t mean buildings will get going right away.”
Still , Mc Cabe remains hopeful Waterloo ’ s current pace with starts plus extra residential units will earn them money through this fund soon enough – money they’d put toward upgrading infrastructure such as water pipes, sewers along with parks & libraries facilities alike.
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