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:

MunicipalityProvincial 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:

MunicipalityProvincial 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
Toronto285,000​
Ottawa151,000​
Mississauga120,000​
Brampton113,000​
Hamilton47,000​
London47,000​
Markham44,000​
Vaughan42,000​
Kitchener35,000​
Oakville33,000​
Burlington29,000​
Richmond Hill27,000​
Oshawa23,000​
Barrie23,000​
Milton21,000​
Cambridge19,000​
Guelph18,000​
Whitby18,000​
Ajax17,000​
Waterloo16,000​
Windsor13,000​
Clarington13,000​
Pickering13,000​
Caledon13,000​
Newmarket12,000​
St. Catharines11,000​
Brantford10,000​
Kingston8,000​
Niagara Falls8,000​