Ontario Construction News staff writer
Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced a major funding boost for municipal housing infrastructure at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) Conference in Ottawa this week, while new data shows the province is falling behind its homebuilding goals.
Ford told delegates the province is adding $1.6 billion to the Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program (MHIP), bringing the total fund to $4 billion. The program supports housing-enabling infrastructure, with municipalities applying through four streams, including funding for roads and bridges as well as water and wastewater systems.
“We’re making record investments in housing and infrastructure so we can keep workers on the job and help families across the province find a home that meets their needs and their budgets,” Ford said. “Working with our municipal partners, we’re going to keep lowering costs, investing in infrastructure and cutting red tape so we can keep the dream of homeownership alive in Ontario.”
The premier framed the new money as part of Ontario’s $200-billion, 10-year capital plan, which he called “the largest plan to build in Canadian history.” That broader plan includes new hospitals, highways, schools, roads, and public transit projects.
Ford also urged municipalities to prioritize Ontario-made products in procurement. “We’re going to spend this money on Ontario-made products — like steel, forestry products, and vehicles — and I encourage every municipality here to do the same,” he said.
The funding increase comes as Ontario struggles to meet its homebuilding target of 1.5 million new homes by 2031. The province recently updated its housing tracker for the first time in eight months, showing 94,753 housing starts in 2024, well below the interim goal of 125,000 — even after adding long-term care homes and university residences to the count.
National data released Monday by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) showed housing starts across the country rose four per cent in July compared with a year earlier. In Ontario, however, starts dropped by 28 per cent over the same period.
The Ford government has introduced incentives to push municipalities to exceed their housing commitments, including the $1.2 billion Building Faster Fund. Windsor, for example, received $5.2 million earlier this month after exceeding its target by 213 per cent.
Ford also highlighted ongoing investments in workforce development, including $2.5 billion for the Skills Development Fund to train workers for in-demand jobs, and nearly $60 billion to build and upgrade more than 50 hospitals. Other infrastructure commitments include more than $550 million to build 28 Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment Hubs and nearly $2.3 billion for new Toronto subway cars, to be manufactured at Alstom’s Thunder Bay plant.
The premier told municipal leaders that despite trade challenges with the United States and slower-than-expected housing starts, the province remains committed to investing heavily in construction.
“Over the next 10 years, we are spending more than $200 billion through our plan to build,” Ford said. “It’s an important part of our plan to protect Ontario.”
