The Ontario and Canadian governments have allocated $1 billion to support municipalities that do not impose development charges in enhancing and maintaining essential infrastructure. This initiative was announced by Todd McCarthy, Ontario’s acting minister of infrastructure, Rob Flack, Ontario’s minister of municipal affairs and housing, and Jennifer McKelvie, parliamentary secretary to the federal minister of housing and infrastructure during the Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference in Ottawa.
Under the newly established stream of the Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program (MHIP), each government level will contribute $500 million. The focus of this specific stream, called the “non-development charge municipalities stream,” is to assist these communities in funding crucial infrastructure such as bridges, roads, and water systems to facilitate new housing constructions and safeguard the existing housing supply.
This funding supplement complements the $8.8 billion previously committed by the provincial and federal governments in March, as stated by McCarthy to CBC. In a separate development in June, it was disclosed that cities would be required to cover 10% of the new infrastructure costs to access the $8.8 billion fund. However, Flack clarified to CBC that this condition would not apply to municipalities included in the new stream.