The Ontario government is providing more than $8 million to the City of Kitchener as a reward for the city exceeding 80 percent of its housing target last year.

Kitchener broke ground on 3,005 new homes last year. That figure represents more than 85 percent of its annual target. The funding from the Building Faster Fund will help the city build more homes and community infrastructure.

Announced in August 2023, the Building Faster Fund is a three-year, up to $1.2 billion program that helps municipalities build more homes faster. The fund rewards municipalities that make significant progress toward their housing targets by providing funding for the infrastructure needed to support new housing and growing communities.

“Kitchener is proud to be recognized by the Government of Ontario for the third year in a row, for our leadership in addressing the housing crisis and getting more homes built,” said Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic. “This investment, through the Building Faster Fund, reflects the strong commitment of council, staff and our community to taking action, accelerating progress and delivering more housing for the residents of Kitchener.”

The Ontario government is also helping to speed up the construction of new homes and infrastructure by streamlining development processes and reducing unnecessary costs, most recently through the Building Homes and Improving Transportation Infrastructure Act, 2026 and the HST Relief Implementation Act (Residential Property Rebates), 2026.

As part of the Canada-Ontario Partnership to Build, Ontario has also introduced the Development Charge Reduction Program, which will deliver up to $8.8 billion over 10 years for housing-enabling infrastructure projects.

Funding will be prioritized for municipalities that reduce and maintain reductions on development charges. The agreement also supports the removal of the HST on new homes from April 1, 2026, to March 31, 2027, which will save homebuyers up to $130,000 off the cost of a new home.

For the first four months of 2026, Ontario saw 20,423 total housing starts, an increase of 25% compared to the same period in 2025. Over the same period, the province saw more than 10,200 rental starts, an increase of more than 93% compared to the same period last year.

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