Ontario Rewards Welland with over $1.7 Million for Exceeding 2023 Housing Targets

Welland – Today, Matthew Rae, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, announced Ontario is providing the City of Welland with $1,720,000 in funding through the Building Faster Fund after the city exceeded its 2023 housing target. Welland broke ground on a total of 868 new housing units last year, unlocking an additional $573,333 by exceeding their 2023 target by 176% percent.

“We applaud the work being done by the City of Welland and all municipalities that have met or exceeded their housing targets,” said Matthew Rae, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs.

“Our government’s landmark investments in housing-enabling infrastructure will help drive us towards our goal of building at least 1.5 million homes by 2031.”

“The City of Welland is leading the way in Ontario by building more homes faster,” said Sam Oosterhoff, MPP for Niagara West.

“I congratulate Mayor Campion and city council and planning staff for helping double the number of housing permits last year and addressing the housing supply crisis in Niagara.”

“We would like to thank the province for this funding,” said Frank Campion, Mayor of the City of Welland.

“It will enable us to expand and improve our infrastructure, which in turn will assist with residential growth-related costs. It is important that growth pays for growth so that the costs do not fall on the ratepayer. Having achieved and exceeded our growth targets, we qualified to receive this funding and we appreciate the fact that the provincial government has stepped up to the plate to assist.”

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 eighty percent of their provincially assigned housing target for the year with increased funding for municipalities that exceed their target.

Any unspent funding from the Building Faster Fund will be made available for housing-enabling infrastructure to all municipalities, including those that have already received funding as a result of reaching their targets, through an application process. In addition, ten percent – or $120 million – of the Building Faster Fund is being set aside for small, rural and Northern municipalities to help build housing-enabling infrastructure and prioritize projects that speed up the increase of housing supply.