Northern reaction to the Canada-Ontario Partnership to Build

Carney & Ford have signed a deal to cut development charges by half for three years. Builders welcome move, but northern municipalities fear funding gaps.

News that the federal and provincial governments are promising $8.8 billion for municipalities to reduce development charges is music to homebuilders in Greater Sudbury.

The city is one of the few in the north that imposes the charges, which aim to help pay for added services when new homes are built.

Sam Biasucci is the owner of SalDan Developments, which builds homes in Sault Ste Marie and Sudbury. His company has been paying the charges for 20 years in Sudbury.

The charges drive up the cost of homes, Biasucci said, for builders and homebuyers alike.

“As a builder, a member of the Ontario Homebuilders Association that’s been lobbying the government for a lifetime ... it’s about time,” he said.

Under the agreement announced Monday by Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford, cities will get cash upfront as long as they cut development charges in half for at least three years.

The goal is to help address Canada’s housing crisis by spurring residential home construction.

“I wish it were years ago and we could have avoided the situation that we’re in,” Biasucci said.

“But it’s a welcome (move) … Home builders are resilient. There will be a recovery.”

Still looking at the details

A spokesperson for Sudbury Mayor Paul Lefebvre said in a statement that “city staff are still looking into the details of the announcement in order to brief the mayor. We will need to revisit this next week.”

While welcoming efforts to spur residential construction, the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities is concerned that the current program design may place many northern municipalities at a disadvantage.

FONOM president Dave Plourde said most northern municipalities don’t have development charges and they’re getting “nothing.”

“Nothing’s carved in stone,” Plourde said.

“So we want to make sure that they recognize that we have to be able to access funding, as well.”

Plourde said around 50 per cent of the 110 municipalities in FONOM don’t have development charges and often experience higher per-kilometre costs when building essential infrastructure such as water, wastewater and roads.

“Northern Ontario, this is where the development is going to happen in the future, recognizing that the mines are going to be growing at a rapid pace,” he said.

“There’s going to be a real need for people to find places to stay in communities like ours. But, you know, we struggle with putting pipes in the ground or repairing what we have.”

The agreement announced this week will also remove the 13 per cent HST for first-time homebuyers in Ontario up to $1 million and extend the maximum rebate amount to $130,000 for homes valued between $1 million-$1.5 million.

“First-time homebuyers have different challenges than established home buyers,” Biasucci said.

The goal is to double the home construction rate in the province.