TORONTO – Almost 113 million dollars will “rain” on the Municipality of Mississauga, granted by the federal government with the aim of making the approval process for the construction of new homes quicker and more efficient. It was announced today by Rechie Valdez, MP for Mississauga-Streetsville and Federal Minister of Small Business.
“The financing – said Valdez – will help quickly build over 3,000 homes over the next three years and over 35,200 homes over the next decade. By working with cities, mayors and all levels of government, we are helping build more homes for Canadians at prices they can afford” said Valdez, who also spoke on behalf of Federal Housing Minister Sean Fraser. Also present with her was the other federal MP for Mississauga, Omar Alghabra.
Mississauga had been in danger of losing federal funding after city councilors failed to pass a series of local reforms that Ottawa had determined were needed to unlock the new funds. Indeed: in October, the same city councilors had voted against a motion to allow the construction of four complexes for four-storey houses next to public transport stops. After the vote, the Minister of Housing called the decision “very worrying”.
The rejected changes were the conditions set by the federal government for receiving money from the new Housing Accelerator Fund. But the local decision was overturned by Mississauga mayor (and new Ontario Liberal leader) Bonnie Crombie, who used the mayor’s “strong powers” to push through the changes. Powers attributed, as is known, by legislation introduced by the Premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, precisely to overcome any obstacles to the construction of new homes.
Today, therefore, the federal government awarded the “reward” to the City of Mississauga: 112.9 million dollars to renew local planning systems, from a fund worth a total of 4 billion dollars. “This direct funding will help cities like Mississauga, which are on the front lines of the housing crisis, accelerate new home construction” said Bonnie Crombie. “Given the severity and complexity of this crisis, we must be bold, work quickly and use all the tools at our disposal” concluded the outgoing mayor.
In the pic above, MP Rechie Valdez during today’s announcement in Mississauga (photo from Twitter X – @rechievaldez)
