The provincial government’s pledge this week to invest more than $1.8 billion to help build at least 1.5 million homes across Ontario by 2031 will be a welcome boost as Ottawa scrambles to address its housing shortage, a group representing the city’s biggest homebuilders says.
“Ottawa desperately needs new infrastructure to support home building for its growing population,” Patrick Daniels, president of the Greater Ottawa Home Builders’ Association and general manager of construction operations at Glenview Homes, said in a statement.
“The Ministry of Finance projects that Ottawa will grow by 650,000 people by 2046. This significant infrastructure investment is critical if we want enough service capacity to support the housing growth our future population will need.”
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Premier Doug Ford announced the new funding Thursday at a news conference in Richmond Hill.
Ford said the province is creating a $1-billion program that will go towards building infrastructure such as roads, bridges and watermains for new houses.
He said his government is also more than quadrupling funding for its new Housing-Enabling Water Systems Infrastructure Fund to repair, rehabilitate and expand water, wastewater and stormwater projects from $200 million to $825 million over the next three years.
GOHBA executive director Jason Burggraaf praised the move, which was among the recommendations his group made during last year’s pre-budget consultations with the province.
“We are very pleased the government has taken this step,” Burggraaf said in a statement. “Without this kind of necessary infrastructure funding, there will be little positive impact on housing affordability in the areas the city has identified for growth.
“If we don’t have sufficient service capacity for things like sewers and stormwater, then intensification will not produce more affordable homes because there will be significant costs to upgrade or expand current infrastructure.”
Thursday’s announcement follows initiatives such as the province’s $1.2-billion Building Faster Fund, which was launched last year to reward cities for meeting or exceeding homebuilding targets, and the federal government’s $4-billion Housing Accelerator Fund, which aims to spur construction of new homes across Canada.
Last month, the federal government said it was giving the City of Ottawa $176 million from the fund to help ramp up housing construction in the city. In a news release, the feds said they expect the funding to fast-track more than 4,400 housing units in Ottawa over the next three years and more than 30,000 units over the next decade.
But some local developers said taxpayer dollars might be better spent on upgrading sewers and other infrastructure in neighbourhoods that aren’t equipped to handle additional density.
The Ontario government is tabling its budget next week. Burggraaf said he hopes the spending plan contains more measures aimed at funding additional housing infrastructure.
“It’s so important that we recognize the link between housing affordability and enhancing public infrastructure,” he said.
“Ensuring that the appropriate infrastructure is in place will address a critical factor in housing supply and affordability and give more Ottawa residents a reasonable opportunity to live in a home of their own.”
