Ontario's Big City Mayors Meet in Whitby to Discuss Housing Priorities, Keeping Communities Safe & Strategic Planning

Ontario's Big City Mayors (OBCM) met last Friday (Oct. 20) in the Town of Whitby to speak to our collective housing priorities, how to keep our communities safe and setting our strategic path for the future of our caucus.I want to thank Whitby Mayor Elizabeth Roy and Durham Regional Chair John Henry for hosting us.OBCM passed two motions on Consideration for Building Faster Fund Eligibility Requirements and Anti Auto Theft Program. To read the full motions, click/tap the links or see below.Consideration for Building Faster Fund Eligibility Requirements - Motion & Letter to Minister CalandraMotion - Consideration for Building Faster Fund Eligibility RequirementsMoved by Mayor Shaun Collier - AjaxWHEREAS the Building Faster Fund (BFF) was announced on August 21, 2023, to commit $1.2 billion over three years to support housing-enabling infrastructure and other related costs that support community growth to municipalities that reach at least 80 per cent of their annual housing targets;AND WHEREAS OBCM sees the Building Faster Fund as a housing accelerator incentive program and not a resolution to the discussion of being made whole for any municipal costs or shortfalls associated with other provincial government legislation/regulations;AND WHEREAS the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH) has indicated that they will not count a housing start toward the target until a developer pulls the permit;AND WHEREAS municipalities can fast track approvals, but do not build homes;AND WHEREAS due to issues beyond the control of municipalities (high interest rates, mounting material costs, labour shortages, utilities etc.), the pulling of permits by developers may be stalled;AND WHEREAS the ministry’s method of counting housing starts will directly impact municipalities’ ability to reach the housing targets required to access much needed funding;AND WHEREAS Ontario’s Big City Mayors (OBCM) have advocated for a collaborative approach to building homes;NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THATOBCM send the attached letter (ATT-1) to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, the Honourable Paul Calandra, outlining concerns about the BFF eligibility criteria and requests municipal participation in the creation of new the eligibility criteria; and thatA copy of this motion be sent to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and all OBCM members.

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Letter to the Honourable Paul Calandra, Minister of Municipal Affairs and HousingDear Minister Calandra,On behalf of Ontario’s Big City Mayors (OBCM) I want to thank your government for the creation of the Building Faster Fund (BFF) to help Ontario municipalities meet our housing targets. These funds are essential for our 29 member municipalities to be able to provide the servicing and infrastructure needed to meet our housing goals by 2031.OBCM is pleased to see the commitment of $1.2 billion dollars over the next three years in the Building Faster Fund, but we have concerns about the eligibility criteria in place to access these funds.The Ministry has indicated that it will not count a housing start until a developer pulls the permit. While municipalities can fast track approvals, they do not build homes. Due to issues beyond our control (high interest rates, mounting material costs, labour shortages, etc.), developers have stalled the pulling of many of these permits. This directly impacts our member municipalities’ ability to reach the annual housing target required to access this much needed funding.These issues were also the focus of the recent housing report Working Together to Build 1.5 Million Homes (attached to this letter), released by Dr. Mike Moffatt’s the PLACE Centre in collaboration with OBCM. In this report, we ask the Province of Ontario to bring all members of the home building process together (e.g., all three levels of government, developers, builders, labour, the higher education sector, the financial services industry, and not-for-profit groups) to create a mutually agreeable plan to reach our shared goal of building 1.5 million homes. It is critical that this plan includes an accountability framework for identifying the barriers to building, and a schedule of annual meetings to allow for us to work together to find solutions for housing delays.We have heard from our membership on this and understand that you have as well, including most recently a letter from Mayor Shaun Collier from the Town of Ajax.We all share the same goal; to build more homes for our residents. We hope that you and the Premier, the Honourable Doug Ford, will consider this issue and include the municipal sector in discussions on changes to the eligibility criteria for the Building Faster Fund, and consider our perspective as you look at how to best support municipalities and our joint effort to move the housing portfolio forward.Thank you again for your collaborative approach to getting homes built and for your recognition that local leaders are best positioned to make growth decisions for their communities.Sincerely,Marianne Meed Ward, Mayor of BurlingtonChair, Ontario’s Big City Mayorscc. Hon. Doug Ford, Premier of OntarioHon. Rob Flack, Associate Minister of Housin

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Anti Auto Theft Program - MotionMoved by Councillor Paul Vicente on behalf of Mayor Patrick Brown - BramptonWhereas in Ontario, there has been a 112% increase in auto thefts over the past five years. with thefts rising 49% in 2022 alone according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC); andWhereas thieves and criminal networks have specifically targeted Ontario’s biggest cities. In a 5 year span from 2014 - 2021 auto theft increased in Toronto 171%, Ottawa 208%, Vaughan 274%, Peel Region 159% and Halton Region 200%*; andWhereas several Ontario municipalities have addressed this issue with programs to assist their residents including the City of Brampton and the City of Vaughan who have implemented Faraday bags/pouches pilot programs to their hardest hit neighbourhoods to deter “relay attacks” using vulnerabilities in keyless FOBs to steal vehicles swiftly; andWhereas the provincial government has committed $51 million to fighting auto theft in May 2023 which includes the creation of an Organized Crime Towing and Auto Theft Team led by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), a new community safety grant that targets auto theft and the creation of a new Major Auto Theft Prosecution Response Team; andWhereas all levels of government as well as police departments, community safety groups and auto manufacturers need to work together to tackle this auto theft crisis in Ontario and across Canada.Therefore, be it resolved that Ontario’s Big City Mayors (OBCM) call on the federal government to provide a more robust anti auto theft program that supports law enforcement agencies and municipalities in the form of funding, resources, and legislation to combat autotheft; andThat this program include more funding to the Canadian Border Service Agency to increase inspections of shipping containers at all major Canadian ports; andThat the federal government enact legislation requiring the inclusion of theft-deterrent technologies for all car manufacturers in new vehicle models in Canada; andBe it further resolved that Ontario Big City Mayors (OBCM) call on the Ontario government to make changes to the vehicle transfer process, as recommended by the Insurance Bureau of Canada in order to take steps to minimize improper transfer of vehicles;And that these provincial changes should introduce a physical public VIN inspection conducted by a certified mechanic as part of the safety inspection that precedes every vehicle transfer, ensuring that info/images are captured and transmitted digitally through an update to the DriveON program to prevent the falsification of paper-based documents.*all data provided by Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC)