The Ontario government has issued $4.5 million in combined funding to three municipalities for exceeding their 2023 housing targets.

The Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville received the largest share of the funding, at $2.6 million. The town broke ground on a total of 1,141 new housing units last year.

The City of Welland will receive $1.72 million after breaking ground on a total of 868 new housing units last year. The city received an additional $573,333 in funding by exceeding its 2023 target by 176 percent.

Finally, the City of Belleville received $1,240,000 in funding as a reward for breaking ground on a total of 644 new housing units last year.

“I applaud the work being done by all the other municipalities that have met or exceeded their housing targets and I’m proud to see these communities helping lead the province when it comes to building homes,” said Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Paul Calandra. “Our government is committed to building at least 1.5 million homes by 2031 and I look forward to unveiling the next steps in our plan to build more homes with the release of our fifth housing supply action plan later this month.”

The funding is being provided through the province’s Building Faster Fund. Announced in August 2023, the fund is a three-year, $1.2 billion program that is designed to encourage municipalities to address the housing supply crisis.

It rewards municipalities that make significant progress against their targets by providing funding for housing-enabling and community-enabling infrastructure. Funding is provided to municipalities that have reached at least 80 percent of their provincially assigned housing target for the year with increased funding for municipalities that exceed their target.

Belleville Mayor Neil Ellis said his community will use the provincial funding to upgrade its Avonlough Pump Station and delivery system so that it can accommodate as many as 20,000 additional residents.