Ontario signals changes to fund that helps municipalities get housing built
Ontario is planning to make changes to a housing fund for municipalities that many have said unfairly measures their progress on building, the minister signalled in a speech Tuesday.
Rob Flack told the Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference in Ottawa that he is going to consult with mayors and the association to “extend and improve” the Building Faster Fund.
“That includes ensuring the fund reflects the new market we are in, as well as encouraging municipalities to cut development charges and get shovels in the ground faster on key infrastructure projects,” he said.
The fund rewards municipalities that achieve at least 80 per cent of a housing target the provincial government assigns and gives them money to put toward housing-enabling infrastructure – often coming by way of a novelty cheque from Flack or Premier Doug Ford.
This past year, just 23 of the 50 municipalities with assigned targets hit their thresholds, down sharply from 32 the previous year.
Some municipalities say that rewarding or leaving out cities and towns based on when construction starts is unfair, because while municipalities are responsible for approvals, they can’t control when a builder starts a project.
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Clarington, Ont., missed qualifying for what the mayor said would be $4 million in funding by just 13 housing units.
“All of the big city mayors have the same concern,” Mayor Adrian Foster said in a recent interview.
“I think Clarington has something like 7,000 permits that could be pulled, or very easily pulled by developers with a minimal amount of work. We can’t force developers to pull the permits even after we’ve approved those permits. So there are a variety of problems with using starts. We’re being held accountable for something we can’t control, and not getting credit for the stuff that we can control.”
Foster said Clarington actually surpassed the 80 per cent threshold, but Ontario is using faulty data based on an undercount by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. He is hopeful that discussions about it with the province will remedy the issue, but is frustrated because the same issue happened last year, with Clarington not qualifying for the funding at first.
“It is déjà vu all over again,” he said.
The fund is one of many ways the government has been trying to spur home building, as Ontario is well off the pace of home building that’s needed to achieve Ford’s goal of getting 1.5 million homes built by 2031.
Ontario only reached about 75 per cent of its interim target for getting 125,000 homes built in 2024, even after it tacked on about 20,000 long-term care beds, retirement home suites, post-secondary student housing beds and additional residential units to its count of traditional housing starts.
CMHC figures released Monday show the country’s annual pace of housing starts in July rose four per cent year-over-year, but in Ontario there was a decline of 28 per cent.
Ford announced Monday at the conference that the province is putting $1.6 billion more toward the Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program, which helps municipalities get housing built.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
Spirits maker Diageo will cease operations at its bottling facility in Amherstburg, Ont., early next year, as it shifts some bottling volume to the U.S., the company announced on Thursday.
The facility, which bottles Crown Royal products, will close in February in a move aimed at improving its North American supply chain.
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About 200 jobs will be affected.
“This was a difficult decision, but one that is crucial to improving the efficiency and resiliency of our supply chain network,” Marsha McIntosh, Diageo’s president of North America supply, said in a statement.
Diageo said it will engage with the community and find ways to support its employees through the transition, and work alongside Unifor to assist unionized workers.
The company said it will still maintain a “significant” footprint in Canada — including its headquarters and warehouse operations in the Greater Toronto Area, and bottling and distillation facilities in Manitoba and Quebec.
McIntosh added the company’s Crown Royal products will continue to be mashed, distilled and aged at its Canadian facilities.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
Toronto police say a 33-year-old man has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly striking two men with his car Wednesday evening.
Officers say they responded to reports of a collision in the area of Don Mills Road and Gateway Boulevard in the city’s North York neighbourhood just before 10:30 p.m.
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Police say two men got into an argument, leading to one man getting into his car and hitting the other man with it.
They say the man then put his car into reverse, striking a second man.
A man in his 50s was transported to hospital with serious injuries and the second man, in his 20s, had minor injuries.
Police say the suspect from Markham, Ont., faces several other charges as well, including two counts of assault with a weapon, uttering threats and dangerous driving.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
A court document shows a Lindsay, Ont., man facing charges for allegedly breaking into an apartment was carrying a crossbow when he was confronted by a tenant.
The resident, Jeremy David McDonald, is also facing assault charges in the incident on Aug. 18 — a fact that has generated widespread interest in the case.
Police information filed in court alleges that Michael Kyle Breen damaged a window and screen at McDonald’s home and carried a crossbow.
The court document says the 41-year-old Breen is charged with break and enter, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, mischief under $5,000 and failing to comply with a probation order.
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Police have said that Breen, who is scheduled to appear in court for a bail hearing next week, was already wanted for unrelated offences.
McDonald, the 44-year-old resident, was charged with aggravated assault and assault with a weapon after he allegedly “did endanger the life” of Breen.
Premier Doug Ford blasted the decision to charge the apartment resident, saying last week that it shows “something is broken.”
Kawartha Lakes Police Chief Kirk Robertson wrote in a statement Wednesday that he recognizes the incident has generated significant public interest and “emotional” responses, but called some of the reaction “unjust and inaccurate.”
Robertson wrote that individuals have the right to defend themselves and their property, but the law requires that any defensive action be proportionate to the threat faced.
“This means that while homeowners do have the right to protect themselves and their property, the use of force must be reasonable given the circumstances,” he wrote.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
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