Housing minister mum on development fee cuts despite Liberal campaign vow

The federal housing minister wouldn’t commit today to a Liberal election campaign promise to push cities to cut the fees that help fund local infrastructure.

In Toronto today for an announcement, Housing Minister Gregor Robertson did not answer directly when asked whether the Liberals are still committed to their promise to cut municipal development charges in half to lower the cost of homebuilding.

Speaking to reporters, Robertson said Ottawa “initially” was looking at a 50 per cent reduction in development charges, but was not clear on whether the government would meet that bar and suggested more details are coming in advance of the Nov. 4 budget.

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Robertson said infrastructure accounts for a large part of the cost of building new homes, and development charges are key to covering those housing costs in cities like Toronto and Vancouver.

The minister was in Toronto to announce federal funding for the city’s sewer infrastructure and the first housing project to go forward through the federal government’s new affordable housing agency, Build Canada Homes.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said financing is a major hurdle keeping many builders from breaking ground on new homes, and that’s why the city is talking with Ottawa about adjusting development charges.