Ontario Rewards Kitchener with $14 million for Exceeding 2023 Housing Target

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KITCHENER - Today, Premier Doug Ford announced Ontario will be providing Kitchener with $14,000,000 in funding through the Building Faster Fund as the city has exceeded its 2023 housing target, breaking ground on a total of 3,579 new housing units last year.

"Kitchener is getting it done on housing and we are proud to reward them for their success," said Premier Doug Ford. "I'm so proud of Mayor Berry Vrbanovic and his council colleagues for leading Kitchener toward exceeding their housing targets last year. My challenge to Mayor Vrbanovic and to every mayor in Ontario is to get even more homes built in the coming years so we can make life more affordable and keep the dream of homeownership alive for families across the province. We'll be there to support you every step of the way."

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.

"Today's announcement of a $14 million investment by the Province of Ontario from its Building Faster Fund is another example of transformative funding that will enable the City of Kitchener to work with partners to get more homes built across the housing continuum in our rapidly growing community," said Berry Vrbanovic, Mayor of the City of Kitchener. "I want to thank Premier Ford, Minister Calandra and the Government of Ontario for believing in our community since first highlighting Kitchener's leadership in tackling the housing crisis on the day after the last municipal election. Tackling this challenge will take an all of community approach with all orders of government and the private and not-for-profit sectors working together to ensure every Ontario resident, has both a roof over their head, and any supports they may need, in order to live a great life."

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. The government has also announced $1.8 billion in support for housing-enabling infrastructure projects as part of its 2024 budget, Building a Better Ontario.

Quick Facts

Quotes

"I applaud the work being done by Kitchener and all the other municipalities that have met or exceeded their housing targets and I'm proud to see these communities helping lead the province when it comes to building homes. Our government is committed to reaching our goal of building 1.5 million homes by 2031 to make sure that everyone has an affordable place to call home."

- Paul Calandra
Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing

"Ontarians need homes and our government is responding with incentives to get it done right here in Kitchener. I'm extremely pleased that the municipality has exceeded its 2023 housing target with 3,579 new homes, and I look forward to continued growth and expansion in housing across the Region of Waterloo and throughout our province."

- Mike Harris
Member of Provincial Parliament for Kitchener-Conestoga

"Kitchener is really setting the pace on getting homes built and I couldn't be more thrilled to see their hard work and achievements being recognized in this way. Congratulations to Mayor Berry Vrbanovic and the entire council for surpassing their housing goals of last year. Let's keep the momentum going and continue to make housing more accessible for all Ontarians."

- Jess Dixon
MPP Kitchener South-Hespeler

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