2024 Ontario Budget Builds on Province's Commitment to Building More Homes Faster

TORONTO, March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

"Today's 2024 Ontario Budget reaffirms the Provincial Government's commitment to investing in building more homes, infrastructure, and transit across the province.

Ontario REALTORS® commend the Province's $190B investment to expand critical infrastructure over the next decade, including highways, transit, homes, and high-speed internet ? necessary improvements to support new communities and economic growth.

OREA is pleased to see some progress towards several REALTOR®-led solutions from our recent Analysis of Ontario's Efforts to Boost Housing Supply mentioned in the budget, including:

• Improving flexibility on financing for municipal water infrastructure projects, building on last week's $825M investment into the Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund;

• A new $99.1M investment into the Site Preparation Pilot Program, repurposing surplus government properties into attainable housing and social infrastructure; and

• A commitment to continue supporting key solutions like transit-oriented development and supporting modular construction.
  

In addition to measures directly addressing housing, the 2024 Ontario Budget also makes progress on several long-standing infrastructure priorities for Ontario REALTORS® critical to the province's long-term economic success ? including support for Ontario's Ring of Fire region, protecting Toronto's waterfront via the Port Lands Flood Protection Project, and investment in transit to improve connectivity province-wide. The Ford Government has made good progress since 2018, and we're pleased with these additional steps in the right direction.

But in order to reach the goal of building 1.5 million new homes by 2031, and bring affordability closer to home for Ontario families, the government must keep their foot on the gas and take bold action. That includes allowing water and wastewater services to be offered through a municipal services corporation, modernizing zoning to support commercial-to-residential conversions and greater density along transit corridors, and eliminating exclusionary zoning.

Building more homes on existing properties is an essential key to unlocking affordable homeownership. Several municipalities, including Toronto, London, and Barrie, have led the way by proactively enabling four units as-of-right per lot, and it remains a key recommendation of the Province's own Housing Affordability Task Force.

Today's Ontario Budget is a step in the right direction, and Ontario REALTORS® thank Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy and the Ford Government for putting forward a strong fiscal foundation."

? Tim Hudak, CEO of the Ontario Real Estate Association

For more information, please contact:

Jean-Adrien Delicano
Manager, Media Relations
[email protected]
416-459-6059