Rob Flack said the government is in talks with municipalities to change the Building Faster Fund as new home construction has slowed and the province faces a generational housing crisis. The Building Faster Fund, created in 2023 with a $1.2-billion pool, awards money to municipalities that reach at least 80 per cent of provincially assigned annual housing start targets to build housing-enabling infrastructure. Dozens of communities failed to qualify last year because qualifying relied on housing starts. Municipal leaders say housing starts are outside municipal control and prefer criteria based on building permit approvals. Flack said he is open to including permits but insisted permits are not homes and the fund must produce real housing results.
Ontario's housing minister says he is open to changing a billion-dollar fund designed to reward municipalities building new homes, but critics say even the tweaks he's contemplating won't get shovels in the ground. Housing Minister Rob Flack said this week that the Ford government is in talks with municipalities to change the Building Faster Fund at a time when new home construction has slowed and the province faces a "generational housing crisis." "We have seen the housing market come to a standstill," Flack said.
They say basing the qualifying criteria on housing starts, which they don't control, is unfair and should instead be based on building permit approvals, which are a civic responsibility. Flack said he's open to expanded or changed criteria to include building permits, but the fund must still deliver housing. "I want to make sure I say this respectfully permits are not homes," he said. "Yes, we can issue permits, but we want to see real results."
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