Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, shakes hands with Ontario Premier Doug Ford after the two made an announcement at the Darlington Energy Complex in Courtice, Ont., on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Laura Proctor

By The Canadian Press

Feds, Ontario announce $8.8B to help cities build housing infrastructure

Mar 30, 2026 | 8:09 AM

OTTAWA — The federal and Ontario governments say they’ll match billions of dollars in local infrastructure spending to help cities cut costly development fees and get more homes built.

Prime Minister Mark Carney is with Premier Doug Ford in Toronto today unveiling a plan for the two levels of government to each spend $4.4 billion on housing-related infrastructure over the next ten years.

The funding deal is the first to be announced through the federal government’s Build Communities Strong Fund and is meant to help municipalities cut development fees by 50 per cent for the next three years.

Experts warn municipal development fees have ballooned and inflated the cost of homebuilding in recent years, making it harder to build much-needed supply.

Ontario also unveiled a plan with the federal government last week to waive the harmonized sales tax on eligible new builds for the next year.

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The latest funding announcement comes a few days after Ottawa announced it was earmarking $1.7 billion for all provinces and territories to boost housing supply however they see fit.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 30, 2026.

Craig Lord, The Canadian Press