Ottawa gets $37.5M from province's housing fund

The Ontario government is giving Ottawa about $37.5 million in funding for making "substantial progress" toward meeting its 2023 housing target.

According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Ottawa ended last year with 10,313 new homes — less than 1,000 homes shy of the provincially mandated goal.

Even so, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced the new cash on Friday.

He said the city's progress meant thousands of families are "going to have a roof over their [heads]."

"I just find that absolutely amazing," Ford added.

The cash is coming out of Ontario's Building Faster Fund, a three-year, $1.2-billion program that's meant to encourage municipalities to address a shortage in housing supply.

According to the province, municipalities can receive money from the fund if they meet at least 80 per cent of their assigned housing target for the year, with extra money if they exceed the target.

Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said Friday he was "very proud" that the city met the threshold for funding.

"We all share the same goal, [and] that is to build more housing and build it as quickly as possible to keep the dream of home ownership alive for young families," Sutcliffe said.

In December, the city was at just 64 per cent of its target, but a large end-of-year jump pushed that number forward by nearly 30 percentage points.

According to the mayor, the newly-announced funding will help "create the conditions for builders and community organizations to build homes faster."

Ford said he hopes to return to Ottawa next year with an even larger cheque.