Kapuskasing mayor says North faces higher building costs but few tools to access funds

A federal and provincial incentive program geared to lower the cost of home construction won’t provide any real benefits in this region, according to the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM).

FONOM is reacting to the recent Ontario and Ottawa housing partnership, announced March 30, where each order of government will commit $4.4 million over 10 years to fund municipalities that cut development charges by up to 50 per cent for three years.

The program is designed to accelerate housing and infrastructure construction across Ontario.

FONOM said the program places Northern communities at a disadvantage since many municipalities here don’t apply development charges and likely won’t see any of that funding.

The northeastern Ontario municipal group is calling on Ottawa and Queen’s Park to draw up housing and infrastructure programs that can be applied equitably across all regions.

“We are asking for fairness in how these programs are delivered,” said Kapuskasing mayor and FONOM president Dave Plourde in a statement. “Municipalities that do not levy development charges should not be excluded from accessing housing-enabling infrastructure funding.

“However, many Northern municipalities simply do not have development charges to reduce, and at the same time face some of the highest costs in the province to build homes and infrastructure.”

Those municipalities, FONOM said, experience significantly higher per-kilometre costs for essential infrastructure on water, wastewater, and roads, while drawing from smaller tax bases and dealing with greater geographic challenges.

Over the years, many Northern municipalities often avoided development charges in order to stimulate economic growth, attract investment, and to maintain a competitive advantage over southern regions.

For forgoing these fees, municipalities sought to encourage construction in areas with slow population growth and higher construction costs.

“Growth still requires infrastructure — whether or not a municipality charges development fees,” said Plourde. “Without access to comparable funding tools, Northern communities risk being left behind in their ability to support new housing and attract investment.”