'Jurisdictional creep': Doug Ford slams feds for giving municipalities funding for housing
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on the federal government to end a program that offers municipalities funding to boost their housing supply, suggesting that Ottawa is overstepping its jurisdiction.
“You can’t have a federal government going into a certain town or certain city and dumping funding and not even discussing it with the province,” Ford said in Halifax at a meeting of Canada’s premiers on Monday.
“That's unacceptable. We call it jurisdictional creep.”
The program in question is the Housing Accelerator Fund, a $4-billion pledge meant to incentivize municipalities to update their zoning and permit systems to allow for faster construction of housing.
Multiple Ontario municipalities have already signed agreements with the federal government, including London ($74 million) and Vaughan ($59 million).
The City of Mississauga has been working with the federal government to secure $120 million in funding. The money was revoked after Mississauga city council voted to prevent four-unit homes, otherwise known as fourplexes, from being built within city limits.
Mayor Bonnie Crombie reversed the decision using strong mayor powers in hopes of getting the federal government to reconsider the funding.
The Housing Accelerator Fund was first promised during the 2021 federal election and was launched in March 2023.
Ford told reporters that while he believes the province can get a “better bang for the buck” if it works with the federal government directly, this fund isn’t the answer.
“We look forward to hopefully them changing their mind not surprising each and every one of us one morning when they're in A-B-C town, dropping millions of dollars, when that's not their jurisdiction. That's our jurisdiction,” he said.
“We welcome their help and hopefully, they put an end to this.”
The Ontario government has also set up a three-year, $1.2 billion fund to provide municipalities up to $400 million per year if they meet certain housing targets.
Each city’s progress will be evaluated by comparing housing starts and residential units created that calendar year with the annual assigned targets.
The government said municipalities that achieve 80 per cent or more of their annual target will be able to access the funding.
Those that do not, will get nothing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.