Provincial investment of $1.5M helps Kawartha Lakes build homes faster
Kawartha Lakes has an extra $1.5 million to support meeting its target of adding 6,500 housing units by 2031.
Matthew Rae, parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Paul Calandra, announced on Thursday in council chambers the province is providing Kawartha Lakes with $1,566,177.
The funding, being delivered through the Building Faster Fund, comes after the municipality made substantial progress toward meeting its 2023 housing target, breaking ground on a total of 431 new housing units last year.
“I want to congratulate Kawartha Lakes and all municipalities that have worked hard to get shovels in the ground faster,” said Rae.
“Every municipality wants to build, every municipality needs to build … We want to ensure they have the tools they need so that everyone can have a place to call home.”
To do this, continued Rae, the province needs to cut red tape, remove barriers and make investments such as the three-year, $1.2billion Building Faster Fund.
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.
“Today’s a banner day for us and the people of Kawartha Lakes,” said Mayor Doug Elmslie, extending appreciation to staff and council members who worked to achieve 90 per cent of the 2023 housing target.
“We remain steadfast in our commitment to meet this year’s goal and to approve housing solutions for needs across the entire housing spectrum.”
The funds will also help support infrastructure upgrades to Lindsay’s water/wastewater services. The improvements, which Elmslie expects to be completed by the end of 2025, will go a long way in supporting proposed developments, particularly those on Lindsay’s east side.
“Thanks to the $1.5 million in funding from our provincial partner and (Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock MPP) Laurie Scott, we are now in a strong position to advance the necessary infrastructure to facilitate housing approvals,” continued Elmslie.
The municipality is committed to seeing 500 homes built this year. Several projects are in varying stages and moving toward getting shovels in the ground.
These, said Elmslie, include 10,500 homes slated for Lindsay, a 900-unit development near Fenelon Falls and much smaller — but no less important — projects in such communities as Woodville, Bobcaygeon and Omemee.
“Our government is proud to provide over $1.5 million to the City of Kawartha Lakes for making such progress toward their housing targets and contributing to the province’s goal of building more homes faster in our community. I’d like to thank and congratulate the City of Kawartha Lakes for working hard to get shovels in the ground,” stated Scott.
This funding is part of the provincial government’s investments in housing and community-enabling infrastructure in Ontario, with money going toward the recently announced $1-billion Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program, as well as a quadrupling of the provincial Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund to $825 million.