Housing target re-count earns Ajax $4 million bonus from Province

The Town of Ajax is reminding provincial bean counters to carry the ten next time after a reassessment of 2023 housing starts earned the town a bonus of more than $4 million.

The provincial government set a goal of building at least 1.5 million homes by 2031 and assigned Ontario’s 50 largest municipalities with housing targets to help meet the goal. Meet the target and win a prize, courtesy of the $1.2 billion Building Faster Fund, which rewards cities that reach at least 80 per cent of their annual target with funding bonuses.

Pickering was the only municipality in Durham to qualify last year, earning a $5.2 million bonus, and had already qualified this year with six months to spare.

Ajax, according to the Province, was just 64 per cent of the way to the target last year, prompting staff to have another look at the books and let Queen’s Park know they missed a few housing starts, specifically two buildings at Pat Bayly Square that added 551 units to the total.

Ajax Mayor Shaun Collier said the revised total meant the town had hit 90 per cent of its target (1,247 units) and was eligible for funding.

“With this financial support, we can invest in the infrastructure necessary to enable more housing options in Ajax,” said Collier, who thanked Ajax MPP Patricia Barnes, provincial housing minister Paul Callandra, federal housing minister Sean Fraser and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) for their help in confirming the town’s eligibility for the funding bonus.

Collier said the town is “committed” to meet its provincially imposed housing target of 17,000 units by 2031 to help solve the housing crisis.

Clarington also had a dispute over its housing starts last year after the provincial government declared the municipality had achieved just over half of its housing targets. Mayor Adrian Foster disputed the criteria, saying the municipality did meet its assigned numbers but lost out on a $4 million bonus because of a discrepancy between the CMHC and the municipality on the definition of a housing ‘start.’

That dispute was never resolved.

In 2023 Whitby and Oshawa achieved between 60 and 67 per cent of their housing goals, far from the 80 per cent required to qualify for financial bonuses.