Ottawa loses out on millions after missing provincial housing target

22-Aug-2025

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The Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing confirmed that Ottawa will not receive its allocation through the Building Faster Fund due to missing its 2024 target for housing starts. The lost funding was first reported by Le Droit newspaper.

The fund is meant to reward municipalities that get homes built. Ottawa's target for last year was 12,583 housing starts. But according to the provincial progress tracker, developers started construction on 7,871 homes in 2024, just  63 per cent of the target.

The city also missed its 2023 target. But the province allows municipalities to get a share of the money so long as they reach at least 80 per cent. Ottawa surpassed 93 per cent for that year and got a payout in April 2024. Ottawa is hardly alone in missing the mark for 2024 housing starts. Of 50 municipalities listed on the progress tracker, 27 were below 80 per cent of their target.