Ontario seals $357M housing deal with feds. Here’s what it could mean

The federal government and the government of Ontario have reached a $357-million deal under the National Housing Strategy.

The two levels of government had publicly disagreed over what kind of housing needs to be built, with Ontario Premier Doug Ford ruling out a province-wide fourplex policy.

“We are pleased to share that an agreement has been reached on a revised action plan from Ontario that will unlock $357 million of federal funding under the National Housing Strategy (NHS),” said a joint statement by federal Housing Minister Sean Fraser and his provincial counterpart Paul Calandra.

The statement said that Ontario’s new measures “better reflect Ontario’s funding delivery model, as the only jurisdiction which flows the funds through municipal service managers.”

1:15 ‘No brainer’: Ford welcomes federal housing funding, even if it goes directly to the municipalities

These new measures, the statement said, will include “establishing provincial supply targets with service managers, directing funding toward new projects, setting annual goals, and implementing robust data collection and reporting mechanisms.”

Housing Minister Sean Fraser told reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday that Ontario’s revised action plan sealed the deal.

“The challenge that led to this back and forth was the action plan Ontario initially submitted, after a year extension, only got them about six per cent of the way there. They came back with a revised, action plan that got them to 28 per cent of where they, ought to be,” he said, adding that “puts them on par with most other provinces as to where they’re at right now.”

The deal secures partial funding for Ontario under the 10-year National Housing Strategy agreement. To secure continued federal dollars, Ontario will be required to submit an action plan on its housing strategy for 2025-2028 by Dec. 31, 2024.

1:26 Will fourplexes destroy ‘neighbourhood character’? What to know amid debate

The federal government wants to push provinces to enact provincewide zoning changes that would allow people to build fourplexes rather than needing those projects to be individually approved.

Some provinces are not happy about it.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford, one of the sharpest critics of the federal government’s push for densification, said there would be “shouting and screaming” if these changes went through.

“We are not going to go into communities and build four-storey or six-storey buildings beside residents,” he said.