Ontario expands ‘strong mayor’ powers to more cities, creates $1.2B housing incentive fund

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is expanding ‘strong mayor’ powers to 21 more municipalities and offering $1.2 billion in incentives for cities and towns to meet housing targets.

In a speech Monday at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario’s conference in London, Ont., Ford said the moves are to help communities build at least 1.5 million homes by 2031 in order to meet the needs of the province’s fast-growing population.

“This new fund [Building Faster Fund] is an incentive program that supports municipalities to build more homes … that will reward municipalities for reaching annual housing targets. These targets will be ambitious, but realistic,” Ford said at the conference.

Strong mayor powers include allowing mayors to propose housing-related bylaws and pass them with the support of one-third of councillors, as well as override council approval of certain bylaws and prepare their city’s budget, instead of council.

The expansion involves municipalities with populations projected to exceed 50,000 by 2031, such as Aurora, Welland and North Bay, and puts the total number of strong mayors at 49 when the new ones come into effect on Oct. 31.

RELATED: Ford government expands ‘strong mayor powers’ in Ontario

Ford says the fund will provide funding for municipalities that meet at least 80 per cent of their annual housing creation target assigned by the province, and money can be used to pay for housing-enabling infrastructure such as roads and water lines.

He also says municipalities that exceed 100 per cent of their targets will receive a bonus.

Municipalities have been raising concerns about a provincial law that cuts some of the fees developers pay, which the communities use to fund such infrastructure.

The launch of the new fund comes on the heels of growing controversy the Ford government has faced for its decision to open up protected Greenbelt land for housing development.

An auditor general’s investigation found the process favoured developers with ties to the housing minister’s chief of staff and failed to consider environmental, agricultural and financial risks and impacts.

The report, which was released in early August, also found the decision to open up the Greenbelt was not necessary to meet the province’s housing target of 1.5 million homes.

The Integrity Commissioner of Ontario is reviewing a request from Ford to look into Amato, Clark’s chief of staff. An ethics investigation into Clark’s handling of the Greenbelt process is already underway.