Mayor Peter Chirico welcomed Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli and Associate Minister of Housing Rob Flack to North Bay City Hall for a funding presentation related to housing on Thursday.
Flack announced the City of North Bay will receive $400,000 from the provincial government through the Building Faster Fund as the city has exceeded its 2023 housing target, breaking ground on a total of 202 new housing units last year. North Bay surpassed its 2023 target of 73 units by 277 per cent.
See related: North Bay, northern centres exceed housing targets for 2023
“The City of North Bay has made the accessibility and affordability of housing within our community a priority,” said Mayor Chirico. “I would like to thank the Province for its ongoing support. With the help of Ontario's Building Faster Fund, we anticipate even more progress in the coming years in creating an environment that further facilitates the growth of our local housing supply.”
See also: North Bay eyes Ontario's housing target — 1000 new units by 2031
“We applaud the work being done by the City of North Bay to exceed its housing targets and contribute to the province’s goal of building at least 1.5 million homes by 2031,” added MPP Fedeli. “Through its efforts and commitment, the city is tackling the affordability crisis by creating new opportunities for families to grow.”
In 2023, Ontario reached 99 per cent of its target of 110,000 new homes, which includes housing starts, additional residential units, and new and upgraded long-term care beds. According to the Ford government, Ontario broke ground on 18,992 rental starts in 2023, the highest number on record. The province saw nearly 10,000 additional residential units created in 2023 — which includes changing single-family homes into multi-unit residences or converting commercial office space into residential use — and nearly 10,000 new and upgraded long-term care beds.
See: Ford expands strong mayor powers, pledges cash for cities that meet housing targets
“Our government is making historic investments in infrastructure to give municipalities the tools they need to ensure that every resident has an affordable place to call home,” said Flack. “The City of North Bay and all other municipalities that have met or exceeded their housing targets should be proud of the work they have done to get shovels in the ground faster.”
And: City: Construction of new housing units up over '21, '22
Announced in August 2023, the Building Faster Fund is a three-year, $1.2 billion program designed to encourage municipalities to address the housing supply crisis. The fund rewards municipalities that make significant progress toward their targets by providing funding for housing-enabling and community-enabling infrastructure. Funding is provided to municipalities that have reached at least 80 per cent 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, 10 per cent — 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.
