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Ford expands strong mayor powers, invests $1.2B in housing incentive fund

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is expanding strong mayor powers to 21 additional municipalities and has announced a $1.2 billion incentive fund for meeting housing targets.
The announcement came as Ford addressed the annual Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) Conference in London, Ontario on Monday.
In his speech, the Premier said that the moves are being made to aid in meeting the province’s goal of building at least 1.5 million homes by 2031 to accommodate Ontario’s fast-growing province.
Strong mayor powers include allowing mayors to propose and pass housing-related bylaws with the support of one-third of councillors.
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Strong mayors additionally hold the ability to override council approval of certain bylaws and prepare the city’s budget instead of council.
Monday’s announcement will expand these powers to municipalities with populations projected to exceed 50,000 by 2031, such as Welland, Halton Hills and Peterborough as of Oct. 31.
This brings the total number of strong mayors in the providence to 50. Last months expansion to 26 municipalities left some mayors saying they will not be using the newly attributed powers.
The new Building Faster Fund, also announced, will provide funding for municipalities that meet at least 80 per cent of their annual housing creation target assigned by the provincial government.
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The three-year, $1.2 billion fund is set to provide up to $400 million per year to municipalities that have committed to reaching the housing targets assigned by the provincial government.
A municipality’s progress will be measured by comparing housing starts and residential units created within a calendar year with annually assigned targets.
Those who exceed 80 per cent or more of the target will have access to the funding, while those who do not will receive nothing.
The province says that the money could be used to pay for housing-enabling infrastructure such as roads and water lines.
Concerns have been raised by several municipalities about a provincial law that cuts fees paid by developers usually used by communities to fund such infrastructure.
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