Ontario gives Milton $8.4M for exceeding 2023 housing targets

Ontario Premier Doug Ford gave Milton a cheque for $8.4 million on Friday after the town surpassed it's housing target for last year by 27 per cent.

The money comes from the Building Faster Fund, a three-year, $1.2-billion pot announced by Ontario last August to incentivize municipalities to accelerate home construction. Funding is allocated to municipalities that reach 80 per cent or more of their annual housing targets, according to a provincial news release.

As part of its effort to ease Ontario's housing crunch, the Ford government has vowed to push for the construction of 1.5 million new homes by 2031. That includes provincially-mandated housing targets for the 50 largest municipalities. Milton's total share is 19,000.

Milton had 1,952 housing starts in 2023, according to the province's housing tracker, considerably exceeding its target of 1,540.

The growing town can use the additional funding "for infrastructure projects that lay the groundwork for more housing and community development," Ford said during a news conference on Friday.

"We need other municipalities to follow their lead," Ford said.

Gordon Krantz, mayor of Milton, thanked Ford and Paul Calandra, minister of municipal affairs and housing, who was also present at Friday's news conference.

Krantz credited the town's housing starts to the dedication of municipal staff, as well as his council's "strategic growth plan that pre-approves the right land use in the right places in our core urban growth areas."

Milton is just the latest Ontario municipality to be allocated money from the Building Faster Fund. In February, Ford gave Toronto $114 million for exceeding its housing target, while Brampton received $25.5 million for meeting 85 per cent of its share.