Ontario putting up more cash for roads, pipes to help get more housing built

Ontario is giving municipalities $1.6 billion more for building key infrastructure to help support new home construction.

Premier Doug Ford made the pre-budget announcement today, saying he has heard from municipal leaders that a lack of funds to build roads and water lines is one of the biggest barriers to getting more homes built.

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Ford has set a target of building 1.5 million homes by 2031 and the province is so far not on track to meet that goal.

The government says it met 99 per cent of its target for last year, but that is only because it has now started counting long-term care beds toward the total.

The new money announced today includes a $1 billion Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program and an additional $625 million into a fund specifically for water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure.

The government has also established a three-year, $1.2 billion Building Faster Fund for housing-enabling and community infrastructure.