Ontario Rewards Kawartha Lakes with More Than $1.5 Million for Making Progress Towards 2023 Housing Targets

On April 4, 2024, Matthew Rae, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, announced Ontario is providing Kawartha Lakes with $1,566,177 in funding through the Building Faster Fund after the municipality made substantial progress towards meeting its 2023 housing target, breaking ground on a total of 431 new housing units last year.

“I want to congratulate Kawartha Lakes and all municipalities that have worked hard to get shovels in the ground faster,” said Matthew Rae, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. “Our challenge to these municipalities now is to redouble their efforts to build more homes than ever before so we can improve affordability and keep the dream of homeownership alive in Ontario. Our government will be there to support you every step of the way, including through our recent budget investment of more than $1.8 billion in housing-enabling infrastructure.”

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.

“In 2023, our dedicated Housing Pledge Team, which includes both staff and council members, united to achieve 90 per cent of our housing target,” said Doug Elmslie, Mayor of Kawartha Lakes. “We remain steadfast in our commitment to meet this year’s goal and to approve housing solutions for needs across the entire housing spectrum. Thanks to the $1.5 million in funding from our provincial partner and MPP Laurie Scott, we are now in a strong position to advance the necessary infrastructure to facilitate housing approvals.”

The Building Faster Fund includes $120 million for small, rural and northern municipalities to help build housing-enabling infrastructure and prioritize projects that speed up the increase of housing supply.

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