Provincial Housing Minister Christine Boyle says B.C. “should be treated as well as Ontario has been,” following a new $8.8-billion deal between the Carney and Ford governments.
Prime Minister Mark Carney was in Toronto with Ontario Premier Doug Ford Monday to announce a new partnership between the two governments to build more affordable homes, infrastructure and transit. A news release from the Prime Minister’s Office says the partnership will reduce taxes and fees for a home in Ontario by up to $200,000.
The release adds that the two governments will lower development charges, with the two levels of government cost-matching a total of $8.8 billion over 10 years. It is supposed to help reduce municipal development charges by up to 50 per cent, with the reductions in place for three years and targeting municipalities covering 80 per cent of the province’s population.
Carney described the announcement as “historic” and a “game changer” for the housing market across Ontario.
Speaking to media on Monday (March 30), Boyle said her government has been “working hard to deliver” housing in B.C. and to reduce the cost of delivering housing and that “B.C. should be treated as well as Ontario has been.”
“We know that development charges are an important piece of reducing the cost of delivering housing,” she said. “We’re in conversation with the federal government about that work as well as ensuring that local governments are kept whole and those infrastructure dollars are available to invest in communities.”
Asked if the B.C. government would be willing to match federal money, Boyle said the B.C. government has “made quite significant investments in infrastructure already” and how all that plays out in matching funds is “all part of the conversation.”
Boyle said she knows that “fiscal flexibility is going to be important here.”
She added she’s meeting with federal Housing Minister – and former Vancouver mayor – Gregor Robertson this week.
“What works in B.C. won’t be exactly the same as what works in Ontario, and that’s why we’re in meetings.”