Ontario puts up to $657M to social housing repairs, roughly half to Toronto
TORONTO — Ontario is putting hundreds of millions of dollars toward social housing repairs and retrofits, with about half of the money going to Toronto, where the funds may also help repair a strained relationship between the city’s mayor and the province.
Housing Minister Peter Milczyn announced Thursday that the up to $657 million over five years will come from cap-and-trade auction proceeds, with up to $343 million going to Canada’s most populous city.
Toronto Mayor John Tory has long been advocating for the need for more social housing money from the province, saying there is an approximately $2-billion repair backlog, and had slammed Ontario’s Liberals for a lack of support in this year’s provincial budget.
The relationship between Tory and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne hit the biggest speed bump earlier this year when Wynne denied him the power to enact road tolls. It would have been unpopular for provincial voters in the regions surrounding Toronto, and Tory has criticized it as a “politically motivated” decision.