The Ontario government will extend so-called “strong mayor” powers to almost two dozen smaller cities and is launching a $1.2 billion fund to reward municipalities that meet provincially-mandated home-building targets, Premier Doug Ford said Monday.
Speaking at a meeting of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, Ford said these measures will help municipalities meet the province’s goal of building 1.5 million homes by 2031 to address the housing shortage and affordability crisis.
“The building faster fund and strong mayor powers are providing municipalities with powerful new tools to build homes and to build them faster,” according to Ford’s prepared remarks to representatives of the province’s 444 municipalities
