Province Responds to AMO Calls for Municipal Funding

Earlier this week Bill 23 – More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022 was passed by the legislature and received royal assent, including changes to the Development Charges Act that will cost municipalities approximately $1 billion annually in revenue. In response to AMO’s concerns and calls for provincial infrastructure funding, Minister Clark has committed in a letter to the President of AMO to “ensuring that municipalities are kept whole for any impact to their ability to fund housing enabling infrastructure because of Bill 23.” 

In addition, the province has committed to introducing legislation that, if passed, would delay the implementation of development application refund requirements set out in Bill 109 by six months, from January 1, 2023 to July 1, 2023. The delay of these measures will give municipalities more time to implement measures.

AMO is very pleased that the government recognizes the importance for municipal access to funding to support the joint provincial-municipal goal of increasing housing supply and affordability. AMO looks forward to working in partnership with the provincial government to highlight the need for additional federal investments in municipal infrastructure to both support growth and address aging assets. 

AMO will continue to work with the province to better understand the amount, timing and conditions of the funding to ensure alignment with municipal realities.