The Ontario and Canadian governments have allocated $1 billion to support municipalities that do not impose development charges in enhancing critical infrastructure projects. Todd McCarthy, Ontario’s acting infrastructure minister, Rob Flack, Ontario’s municipal affairs and housing minister, and Jennifer McKelvie, parliamentary secretary to the federal housing and infrastructure minister, disclosed this initiative during the Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference in Ottawa. This funding entails a new segment of the Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program (MHIP) with each government contributing $500 million.
The specialized “non-development charge municipalities stream” aims to assist these communities in funding essential infrastructure such as bridges, roads, and water systems to facilitate new housing developments and safeguard the existing housing inventory. This financial support supplements the $8.8 billion commitment made by the provincial and federal governments earlier in the year, according to McCarthy in an interview with CBC.
In a related development, it was announced in June that municipalities would be required to cover 10% of the new infrastructure costs to access the $8.8 billion funding. However, Flack clarified to CBC that this precondition would not apply to municipalities covered under the newly established funding stream.
