On August 21, the Ontario government announced new housing targets for 21 municipalities across the province.
As part of the provincial government’s objective to build 1.5 million new homes by 2031, Whitchurch-Stouffville has been given a target of adding 6,500 new homes within the next eight years.
For municipalities willing to commit to these new growth targets, the province is preparing a $1.2 billion Building Faster Fund to help support the hard and soft infrastructure needed to service this new housing.
Although complete regulations for the fund have not yet come into effect, the Ontario government has explained that $400 million in new annual funding for three years will be available to municipalities meeting provincial housing targets.
If Stouffville reaches 80 percent of its annual target each year, the Town would become eligible for funding based on its proportionate share of the overall goal of 1.5 million homes. Exceeding that target would also result in a bonus.
“There has not been enough information released by the province on the mechanics of the Building Faster Fund,” Mayor Iain Lovatt stated in a recent press release. “But I welcome the opportunity for the Town to receive financial support for accelerating housing over the next 8 years.”
Town Staff are drafting an information report that will consider the number of units already in Stouffville’s planning pipelines and the feasibility of expanding and servicing those numbers as dictated by the province.
“As a Town, we will do our part to provide homes to help the province achieve its goal of 1.5 million new homes in the next 10 years,” Lovatt promised. “We will make a formal commitment to the province in the near future.”
That commitment will come after the Mayor and Council have assessed the upcoming information report at their meeting on September 13.
“We will not commit to a number that we cannot reasonably achieve,” Lovatt told Bullet Point News. “We have a lot of homes in the pipeline at different stages of the planning process, and Regional Staff are bringing an updated report on servicing allocation in September which will certainly help define timelines.”
“Eight years is a long time to plan and build,” he added.
Committing to the province’s target would also grant strong mayor powers to Stouffville’s head of Council, which we cover in detail here.
