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Ontario quietly signs new affordable housing deal with feds

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The provincial and federal governments quietly signed a fresh Ontario affordable housing deal worth hundreds of millions of dollars after months of tense back-and-forth and threats to scrap the funding altogether.

Shortly after Doug Ford’s new cabinet was sworn in March and with Mark Carney installed in the Prime Minister’s Office, Ottawa and Queen’s Park signed off on a deal to work together on new housing.

Details of the need to sign the new agreement were contained in a handover binder prepared for Ontario’s new housing minister in March and recently obtained by Global News using freedom of information laws.

The same agreement had caused months of grief the previous year as two housing ministers traded barbs, accusations and threats.

Last year, the federal and provincial housing ministers clashed repeatedly over the National Housing Strategy – a bilateral, long-term agreement to build affordable housing.

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The fund provides money to provinces for their affordable housing strategies. It is designed to run for 10 years, with milestones to renew the funds.

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Then-Canadian Housing Minister Sean Fraser wrote to his Ontario counterpart, Paul Calandra, in March 2024 to demand “urgent” action on his affordable housing plan, accusing Ontario of failing to deliver thousands of new units.

The letter kicked off back-and-forth jabs, where Ottawa rejected Ontario’s various affordable housing plans, claiming it was refurbishing old units and not building new ones. The federal government said it would withhold $357 million in fresh funding until it was satisfied.


The federal government eventually said it would sidestep Ontario and give the money straight to local service managers in the province instead. At the time, Calandra said that was exactly what he wanted.

“For weeks, we’ve been saying, ‘It is distributed through our service managers,’” he said in May 2024.

“Now, the big, bad federal Minister of Housing is going to punish Ontario. Do you know how? By distributing the money the same way we have done it for the last 35 years: through our service managers.”

After the snap winter election, Calandra was shuffled from housing to education, while Fraser is now the justice minister.

A briefing binder prepared for incoming Ontario Housing Minister Rob Flack in March 2025 said one of the first decisions he would have to make would be to sign off on a new federal-provincial agreement to ensure affordable housing dollars continue to flow.

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“Ministry staff are reviewing federal input and will bring forward options for the Action Plan for Minister’s decision following the election,” the briefing binder, accessed via freedom of information laws, said.

Sometime in March, the two governments came to an agreement.

“The National Housing Strategy (NHS) bilateral agreement signed with Ontario runs from 2019/20 to 2027/28,” a federal spokesperson said.

“The targets and outcomes for funding available under the agreement were mutually agreed upon in March 2025 through a three-year Action Plan for 2025/26 to 2027/28. This ensures the continued availability of federal funding for Ontario.”

Flack’s office indicated he wanted to reset the relationship with his federal counterpart after a tense year. The latest agreement will prioritize rent-assisted units, according to the Ontario government.

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Crown Royal bottler closing down Ontario plant, moving operations to U.S.

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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.

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McIntosh added the company’s Crown Royal products will continue to be mashed, distilled and aged at its Canadian facilities.

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Man faces attempted murder charge after two men struck by car in Toronto: police

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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.


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Intruder in Ontario home invasion case carried a crossbow, court docs say

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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.

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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.


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