Ontario Rewards Peterborough $1.88 Million for Exceeding 2023 Housing Target

Funding can be used to invest in housing- and community-enabling infrastructure

March 11, 2024

PETERBOROUGH CITY — Today, Matthew Rae, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, announced Ontario will be providing the City of Peterborough with $1,880,000 in funding through the Building Faster Fund as the city exceeded its 2023 housing target, breaking ground on a total of 506 new housing units last year.

“I want to congratulate Peterborough and all municipalities that have worked hard to get shovels in the ground faster,” said Matthew Rae, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. “Our challenge to these municipalities now is to redouble their efforts to build more homes than ever before so we can improve affordability and keep the dream of homeownership alive in Ontario. Our government will be there to support you every step of the way.”

Announced in August 2023, the Building Faster Fund is a three-year, $1.2 billion program that is designed to encourage municipalities to address the housing supply crisis. The fund rewards municipalities that make significant progress against their targets by providing funding for housing-enabling and community-enabling infrastructure. Funding is provided to municipalities that have reached at least 80 per cent of their provincially assigned housing target for the year with increased funding for municipalities that exceed their target.

“Peterborough City Council and staff are deeply committed to exceeding our housing targets each year and will continue to take ambitious steps to do so,” said Jeff Leal, Mayor of Peterborough. “I want to thank Minister Calandra, Parliamentary Assistant Rae, MPP Smith and the Government of Ontario for their partnership on this key priority, and for investing in critical infrastructure that will help make more housing units possible in our community. We also look forward to a continued partnership with the Peterborough & The Kawarthas Homebuilders Association and our local builders and partners through the Mayor’s Task Force on Housing Creation as we work together to address the housing crisis in Peterborough.”

Any unspent funding from the Building Faster Fund will be made available for housing-enabling infrastructure to all municipalities, including those that have already received funding as a result of reaching their targets, through an application process. In addition, ten per cent – or $120 million – of the Building Faster Fund is being set aside for small, rural and northern municipalities to help build housing-enabling infrastructure and prioritize projects that speed up the increase of housing supply.

Quick Facts

In 2023, Ontario reached 99 per cent of its target of 110,000 new homes, which includes housing starts, additional residential units, and new and upgraded long-term care beds.
Ontario broke ground on 18,992 rental starts in 2023, the highest number of rental starts on record.
The province saw nearly 10,000 additional residential units created in 2023 – which includes changing single family homes into multi-unit residences or converting commercial office space into residential use – and nearly 10,000 new and upgraded long-term care beds.
Ontario has introduced significant investments in municipalities to support housing-enabling infrastructure, including $200 million over three years for the Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund and the $400 million annual Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund.

Quotes

“I applaud the work being done by Peterborough and all the other municipalities that have met or exceeded their housing targets and I’m proud to see these communities helping lead the province when it comes to building homes. Our government is committed to reaching our goal of building 1.5 million homes by 2031 to make sure that everyone has an affordable place to call home.”

– Paul Calandra
Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing

“We are at a 1% vacancy rate in the City of Peterborough. We needed to see the shovels in the ground and the City of Peterborough has exceeded that goal. Five hundred and six new housing units is a strong start and I am looking forward to working alongside my colleagues at all levels of governments to address the housing supply crisis.”

– Dave Smith
MPP for Peterborough-Kawartha

Ontario Rewards Peterborough $1.88 Million for Exceeding 2023 Housing Target

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