Burlington Mayor Pens Letter to MMAH on City's Building Faster Fund Eligibility

Earlier this month, my office and the City of Burlington received a letter from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH) regarding our 2023 housing targets and performance and our ineligibility for funding from the Province's Building Faster Fund (BFF). You can read a copy of the letter here: MMAH Letter to CoB - 2023 Housing Targets and Performance.We replied to the MMAH and the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, the Hon. Paul Calandra, that as a result of Burlington not qualifying for the BFF, Burlington's ability to meet our housing pledge of 29,000 homes by 2031, and the residents we serve, are now at-risk.I reiterated in our letter Burlington's concerns over the criteria by which municipalities are judged for the BFF, namely foundations poured. This is inappropriate and inaccurate criteria to use, for three main reasons:

1. Foundations poured are outside a municipality’s control. A municipality is not in the business of building houses, but rather they issue permits so that houses can be built;
2. The BFF is utilizing data from the Canada Mortgage & Housing Corporation that appears to be inaccurate; and
3. The qualifications for the BFF are inappropriate because of the disparity that will be created across Ontario. Residents of Burlington will not benefit from this essential provincial funding needed to support our city, such as road maintenance, transit services and community centres.

You can read a copy of our letter response to MMAH below or here: Response to Minister Calandra on Building Faster Fund from Mayor Meed Ward of Burlington.The Honourable Paul CalandraMinister of Municipal Affairs and HousingProvince of OntarioHousingSupply@ontario.caFebruary 27, 2024Re: 2023 Housing Targets and PerformanceDear Minister Calandra,Thank you for your letter outlining Burlington’s progress towards meeting our housing pledge. We are committed to partnering with industry, government, and our community to enable more housing to be built. Your letter provides an opportunity to reiterate our concerns that the criteria by which cities are judged, namely foundations poured, is inappropriate and inaccurate. As such, Burlington will not qualify for the Building Faster Fund, which puts our ability to meet our pledge, and the residents we serve, at risk.The criteria for the Building Faster Fund are problematic for three reasons. First, it counts housing starts through foundations poured, which is outside the municipality’s control. The City of Burlington does not pour foundations nor are we in the business of building houses. We issue permits so that houses can be built. Here at Burlington City Council, we are working hard on improving our permit process so that more homes can be built. We have struck the Pipeline to Permit Standing Committee, comprised of members of Council and industry experts to provide tangible recommendations on how to issue more housing permits. To date, we have a total of 41,612 units in our permit pipeline, 4,256 of which have been approved. We are doing our part in this way and we are focusing on what we can control.Secondly, the Building Faster Fund criteria is utilizing data that appears to be inaccurate. The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing is using new home construction starts from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. However, this data does not line up with the actual number of housing starts on the ground in cities across Ontario. In conversations with other mayors across the province, I have heard numerous accounts of discrepancies between the CMHC housing start numbers and the actual numbers of dwelling units being created in cities across Ontario. In Burlington, by our metrics, we have 649 dwelling units created in 2023, which is over twice the figure of 300 provided by CMHC.Thirdly, the qualifications for the Building Faster Fund are inappropriate because of the disparity that will be created across Ontario. Residents of Burlington will not benefit from this essential provincial funding needed to support our city, such as road maintenance, transit services and community centres. This is true for dozens of other cities across Ontario, which are also ineligible for the Building Faster Fund. Under your criteria, the same cities may very well qualify for tens of millions of funding year over year, while other cities will continue to get nothing. This will create large, noticeable disparities in services across the province. The province of Ontario is mandated to serve all Ontarians equally, but this fund will not accomplish that.Specifically, in the case of Burlington, we will continue to be at a disadvantage to qualify for the Building Faster Fund for the next few years. This is due to the nature of our current growth, which is multi-residential high density. We have already developed within our urban boundary on greenfield development and naturally, high-rise buildings take much longer to build than single family homes. Thus, it is predictable that we will not meet the targets for several years before thousands of units will come online. Along with other cities in Ontario, we need this essential funding to support our anticipated growth and serve our future residents. However, the nature of the Building Faster Fund will continue to disadvantage cities like ours whose growth will be primarily in the form of high-density intensification versus greenfield suburbs and will create disparities in services across Ontario.Previously your government announced its intention to allocate separate funding for municipalities that are not eligible for the Building Faster Fund but still need this critical funding. I look forward to hearing more about this separate fund and how you will provide for the majority of cities in Ontario that do not qualify for the Building Faster Fund.In conclusion, despite our disappointment in our ineligibility for the Building Faster Fund, I want to assure you that we are fully committed to our housing pledge and achieving our targets for 2031. We are serious about doing our part to address the housing crisis in Ontario, which is issuing permits. We are fully dedicated to enabling more housing units in Burlington so that more people can call our beautiful city home.Sincerely,Mayor Marianne Meed WardCity of BurlingtonCc: Tim Commisso, City ManagerSamantha Yew, Acting ClerkHon. Rob Flack, Associate Minister of HousingMPP Matthew Rae, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs & HousingMichael Klimuntowski, Chief of Staff, Minister’s OfficeMartha Greenberg, Deputy Minister