News

$400,000 for the City of North Bay for Exceeding 2023 Housing Targets

Funding can be used to invest in infrastructure to support building more homes

NORTH BAY – Vic Fedeli, MPP for Nipissing announced that the Ontario government is providing the City of North Bay with $400,000 in funding through the Building Faster Fund after the city exceeded its 2023 housing target. North Bay broke ground on a total of 202 new housing units last year.

“We applaud the work being done by the City of North Bay to exceed their housing targets and contribute to the province’s goal of building at least 1.5 million homes by 2031,” said MPP Vic Fedeli. “Through their efforts and commitment, the city is tackling the affordability crisis by creating new opportunities for families to grow.”

“The City of North Bay has made the accessibility and affordability of housing within our community a priority,” said Mayor Peter Chirico. “I would like to thank the Province for its ongoing support. With the help of Ontario’s Building Faster Fund, we anticipate even more progress in the coming years in creating an environment that further facilitates the growth of our local housing supply.”

“Our government is making historic investments in infrastructure to give municipalities the tools they need to ensure that every resident has an affordable place to call home,” said Rob Flack, Associate Minister of Housing. “The City of North Bay and all other municipalities that have met or exceeded their housing targets should be proud of the work they have done to get shovels in the ground faster.”

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.

Any unspent funding 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.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• Tracking Housing Supply Progress
• Ontario Launches Building Faster Fund and Expands Strong Mayor Powers
• Background: Municipal Housing Targets and Building Faster Fund