What was essentially a blank cheque handed out by the Ontario government to the Town of Innisfil months ago is finally getting filled out.
A portion of the $2.52 million in cash announced through the Building Faster Fund in April will be used to cover part of the cost of the Lockhart Road reconstruction and Killarney Beach Road urbanization projects, Barrie-Innisfil MPP Andrea Khanjin's office said in an Oct. 29 media release.
This money was guaranteed to the town after the municipality exceeded its 2023 housing target, breaking ground on a total of 738 new units last year — far surpassing its 462-home goal.
“I applaud Innisfil for doing what it takes to make sure everyone in their community has an affordable place to call home,” Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Paul Calandra said in a statement Tuesday. “Our government will continue to give municipalities the tools they need to address the unprecedented population growth we’ve seen.”
The $6.5-million Lockhart project includes full road reconstruction, drainage improvements, and new watermain and sewer installations, active transportation lanes and traffic signals. Turning lanes will also be installed at the Lockhart and 25th Sideroad intersection.
Meanwhile, Killarney work will total about $11.8 million. It will see the conversion of an existing part of the road into an urbanized cross-section with on-street parking and new storm sewer, curb and gutter infrastructure.
The town says $986,793 of the provincial funding will be applied to Lockhart and $50,000 is going to Killarney Beach. The remaining amount will be banked by the municipality and must be spent by March 2026.
“We are so grateful to the provincial government for their continued support of growth in the town,” Mayor Lynn Dollin said. “We know that Innisfil is a very desirable place to live, and this funding helps us build and grow the necessary infrastructure to not just meet but exceed our housing targets.”
Innisfil was one of 19 municipalities to surpass its targets, according to a tracker on the province’s website, joining communities such as Barrie, Belleville, Chatham-Kent, Kingston, Pickering, Sarnia, Sault Ste. Marie, Toronto, Welland and Whitchurch-Stouffville in the Ontario government’s good books.
The goals were developed for 50 large or growing municipalities, as part of the province’s promise to build 1.5 million homes across Ontario by 2031. Innisfil signed its housing pledge, agreeing to construct 6,300 homes within eight years, in November 2023.
According to that tracker, Innisfil has a target of 525 homes this year. As of August, ground was broken on 193, meaning the town is 36.8 per cent of the way to its 2024 goal. Comparatively, Barrie sat at 29.9 per cent, Bradford West Gwillimbury was at 25.8 per cent and East Gwillimbury came in at 23.2 per cent.
Announced in August 2023, the three-year, $1.2-billion fund is designed to encourage municipalities to address the provincial housing-supply crisis. It rewards municipalities that make significant progress on targets by providing funding for housing- and community-enabling infrastructure.
“(The) fund represents an unwavering commitment towards our community’s housing needs, as we work together with the City of Innisfil,” Khanjin said in the release. “As a growing municipality, the Town of Innisfil works diligently to ensure the housing options, as well as infrastructure maintenance and upgrades.”
When the Building Faster Fund money was announced in March, it included $6.34 million to the City of Barrie for exceeding its 2023 housing target, after breaking ground on a total of 1,716 new housing units last year.
That local funding will be used on the Sophia Street Neighbourhood Reconstruction Project, a "housing-enabling core infrastructure project" in a high-density area within the city’s urban growth centre, which is planned to achieve a minimum density of 300 units per hectare, according to the news release. This work includes a new storm trunk sewer, upgrades to the watermain, road improvements including asphalt, sidewalks and streetlights, as well as utility relocations that will serve 724 residential units.
