Expansion of Strong Mayor Powers in York-Simcoe and the Building Faster Fund
Today, Premier Ford and Caroline Mulroney attended the 2023 AMO Conference. There, they announced Ontario’s new three-year $1.2 billion Building Faster Fund for municipalities that deliver on their housing pledges. We’re working hard to get homes built locally and across Ontario!
Premier Ford also announced the expansion of strong mayor powers to Bradford West Gwillimbury, East Gwillimbury, Georgina and 18 other municipalities, provided heads of council commit to a municipal housing target.
There is an urgent need to get more homes built quickly across Ontario. That is why the government is further supporting municipalities in building more homes by introducing the Building Faster Fund, a new three-year $1.2 billion program to help municipalities meet or exceed the housing targets they have pledged to achieve by 2031.
Eligible municipalities will receive up to a total of $400 million each year based on their performance towards their housing targets.
York-Simcoe targets are:
| Municipality | Provincial Housing Target |
| Bradford West Gwillimbury (new) | 6,500 |
| East Gwillimbury (new) | 4,300 |
| Georgina (new) | 6,200 |
Full List below.The expansion of strong mayor powers will take effect on October 31, 2023 and is in addition to the 28 municipalities that already have strong mayor powers, having committed to targets through municipal housing pledges.
By providing additional support and financial resources to our municipal partners as well as strong mayor powers to help speed up the approvals process, the government is acting decisively to tackle Ontario’s housing supply crisis and build the homes our residents need and deserve.
Learn More: https://news.ontario.ca/en/backgrounder/1003396/ontario-providing-new-tools-to-municipalities-to-build-more-homes-sooner
The full list of assigned housing targets for municipalities considered for strong mayor powers and the Building Faster Fund is provided below:
| Municipality | Provincial Housing Target |
| Halton Hills (new) | 9,500 |
| Aurora (new) | 8,000 |
| Bradford West Gwillimbury (new) | 6,500 |
| Kawartha Lakes (new) | 6,500 |
| Whitchurch-Stouffville (new) | 6,500 |
| New Tecumseth (new) | 6,400 |
| Innisfil (new) | 6,300 |
| Georgina (new) | 6,200 |
| Norfolk County (new) | 5,700 |
| Woodstock (new) | 5,500 |
| Peterborough City (new) | 4,700 |
| East Gwillimbury (new) | 4,300 |
| Welland (new) | 4,300 |
| Haldimand County (new) | 4,200 |
| Greater Sudbury (new) | 3,800 |
| Belleville (new) | 3,100 |
| Thunder Bay (new) | 2,200 |
| Sault Ste. Marie (new) | 1,500 |
| Chatham-Kent (new) | 1,100 |
| North Bay (new) | 1,000 |
| Sarnia (new) | 1,000 |
| Toronto | 285,000 |
| Ottawa | 151,000 |
| Mississauga | 120,000 |
| Brampton | 113,000 |
| Hamilton | 47,000 |
| London | 47,000 |
| Markham | 44,000 |
| Vaughan | 42,000 |
| Kitchener | 35,000 |
| Oakville | 33,000 |
| Burlington | 29,000 |
| Richmond Hill | 27,000 |
| Oshawa | 23,000 |
| Barrie | 23,000 |
| Milton | 21,000 |
| Cambridge | 19,000 |
| Guelph | 18,000 |
| Whitby | 18,000 |
| Ajax | 17,000 |
| Waterloo | 16,000 |
| Windsor | 13,000 |
| Clarington | 13,000 |
| Pickering | 13,000 |
| Caledon | 13,000 |
| Newmarket | 12,000 |
| St. Catharines | 11,000 |
| Brantford | 10,000 |
| Kingston | 8,000 |
| Niagara Falls | 8,000 |