Progress report on Ontario housing construction goals

In pursuit of its ambitious goal to build 1.5 million homes by 2031, Ontario assigned 50 municipalities with individual housing targets, ranging from 1,000 to 285,000 units.

The Building Faster Fund (BFF), a $1.2 billion program, rewards municipalities for reaching 80% or more of their annual targets, with bonuses for surpassing them.

So how did they fare in 2023?

• 19 cities exceeded their targets
• 7 were "on track," meaning they built at least 80% of their targets
• 24 fell short, with some just missing the funding threshold, and others lagging far behind

As a whole, the province reached 99% of its target of 110,000 new homes in a single year. Combined with 2022 housing starts, that’s about 19% of the way towards the 10-year goal.

The City of Toronto exceeded its target by 51%, building 30,516 new housing units and securing itself a substantial $114 million in provincial funding.

For meeting 85% of its annual target, Brampton received a cheque for $25.5 million from the premier.

Chatham-Kent emerged as a standout performer, crushing its target of 81 homes by 544% and earning $440,000 in funds.

All three municipalities pledged to allocate some of the funds towards building (even) more affordable housing.

On the other end, two of Ontario’s biggest municipalities, Mississauga and London, missed their targets by 61 and 48 percentage points respectively, losing out on millions in additional funds.

“Ontario cities are all at a different stage of growth and development, which makes using housing starts [as a measurement] even more problematic,” said Mississauga Acting Mayor Joe Horneck. 

Unallocated BFF money will be available for other infrastructure projects through applications.

More housing construction headlines

Could mass timber construction help ease the housing crisis? – PayProp

BoC says housing affordability is about boosting supply, not lowering interest rates – CBC

Windsor misses housing target, but city’s not alone – CTV