Funding will be invested in housing or community-enabling infrastructure
Guelph, Ont., March 14, 2024 – Today, Paul Calandra Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, announced that the City of Guelph will receive $4,680,000 in Government of Ontario funding through the Building Faster Fund. In 2023, the City issued 1,320 building permits for new units and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) reported 1,287 new housing starts, meaning Guelph achieved 98 per cent of its 2023 housing target.
“I applaud the work being done by Guelph and all the other municipalities that are making substantial progress toward their 2031 housing targets,” said Paul Calandra, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
Representatives from the City of Guelph including Mayor Cam Guthrie and members of City Council as well as City staff attended today’s funding announcement, the proceeds of which will be invested into much-needed housing or community-enabling infrastructure in Guelph.
“The Provincial Building Faster Fund will help Guelph address the housing crisis in our community,” said Mayor Cam Guthrie, City of Guelph. “Our continued desire to work collaboratively with upper levels of government to ensure policies, programs and tools are available to get shovels in the ground faster and increase housing supply is proving to work well for our city. To meet Guelph’s target to build 18,000 new homes by 2031, the City also needs cooperation from the development community, partner organizations, and the public. My hope is that we’ll continue a positive relationship as funds like this, and others, become available.”
City building is a key theme in the City’s new 2024-2027 Future Guelph strategic plan and is also reflected by the investments planned in Guelph’s 2024-2027 Multi-Year Budget. City building involves supporting housing growth in Guelph, investing in City infrastructure and programming to enable growth, exploring opportunities for improvement to transportation, celebrating culture, and attracting people to our city parks and recreational services.
Background
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.
The City of Guelph met its housing target for 2023 of 1,320 building permits, however the CMHC reporting does show a slight gap between permits issued and permits actioned (1,287) by developers.
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.
Media contact
Patricia Halajski, Mayor’s Communications Advisor
Mayor’s Office
519-822-1260 extension 2558
[email protected]
Krista Walkey, General Manager, Planning and Building Services
Infrastructure, Development and Environment
519-822-1260 extension 2395
[email protected]