The Ontario government says the first round of investments from its Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund is supporting the construction of more than half a million new homes across the province.

Premier Doug Ford announced the results of the first round of funding applications at an event in Mississauga on August 7. Under this first intake, the province has committed to investing $970 million in 54 projects across 60 municipalities. That funding includes $456 million to support 30 projects in small, rural and northern municipalities without housing targets.

Recipients can use the money to develop, repair, rehabilitate and expand drinking water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure.

And in response to the high demand for funding, the government has also announced a further $250 million to support a second round of applications. Those open on August 14.

“Our government’s historic investments in infrastructure are helping to tackle Ontario’s housing supply crisis and get more homes built across the province,” Ford said. “The investments we are announcing today alone will help get more than half-a-million homes built, including nearly 47,000 here in Peel Region. We’re going to keep working with our municipal partners to make the dream of homeownership a reality for more families across Ontario.”

As part of the first round of funding, the province is providing the Regional Municipality of Peel with $35 million to support the expansion of the G.E. Booth Water Resource Recovery Facility. The project will enable 46,784 housing units in the Region of Peel and includes the extension of water systems and installation of new features, such as an aeration tank and filtering systems.

Additional projects that have been approved for funding will be announced in the coming weeks.

“By investing in drinking water and wastewater treatment facilities and connecting pipes to land, we are helping municipalities build more homes,” said Infrastructure Minister Kinga Surma. “Homes can’t be built without connections to drinking water and wastewater.”

In this year’s budget, the province announced more than $1.8 billion in housing-enabling infrastructure funding through the $825 million Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund and the $1 billion Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program that complements funding announced previously through the province’s Building Faster Fund.

In response to the significant demand for investments in water and wastewater infrastructure to enable the construction of more homes and after consulting with municipalities, the province is transferring $275 million from the Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program to the Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund in order to meet this demand.

In addition, the $120 million from the Building Faster Fund that was reserved for small, rural and northern communities is being flowed to these communities through the Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund.

The province says it will provide more information about the remaining funding in the Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program, including eligibility and application intake details, in the coming weeks.