Toronto – The Government of Ontario committed to providing the City of Toronto with $114 million in funding through its Building Faster Fund in response to action taken by the City and to support future home building targets set in the HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan and Housing Action Plan.
The Building Faster Fund is a $1.2 billion program spanning over three years that encourages municipalities to meet and exceed housing targets. Municipalities that have reached at least 80 per cent of their provincially assigned housing target for the year are rewarded through the program.
The City of Toronto exceeded housing targets for 2023 set by the Government of Ontario by 51 per cent with a total of 31,656 housing starts that includes 30,516 new housing units, 794 conversions (which includes Additional Residential Units such as basement suites added to existing structures) and 346 long-term care beds.
The City’s HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan and Housing Action Plan are focused on enabling market, non-market and mixed housing production in order to achieve or exceed the Government of Ontario’s housing target for the City Toronto of 285,000 new homes.
More information about the City’s 2020-2030 HousingTO Action Plan is available on the City’s website. To achieve this target of 285,000 homes the City is focused on:
- Official plan and zoning by-law amendments;
- Intensification of major growth areas;
- Expediting the review of development applications;
- Advancing housing system policy and program initiatives;
- Training and trades strategy addressing construction market capacity;
- Leveraging public land to increase the supply of housing;
- Preserving the existing rental housing stock;
- Public accountability and reporting on progress; and
- Optimizing its people, processes and technology
The City is grateful to the Government of Ontario for their continued efforts in helping to improve Toronto’s housing system and restore housing affordability. “I am proud Toronto has exceeded its target for housing starts for 2023 and I am grateful for the Ontario Government’s continued partnership. I am committed to getting housing back on track by building more homes of all kinds, faster. That includes our ambitious plan to build 65,000 rent-controlled homes on City land and speeding up the approval process for new housing developments. The Building Faster Fund will help Toronto build more housing and create great neighbourhoods for families to live in.” – Mayor Olivia Chow