Ontario and Ottawa will match billions of dollars in local infrastructure spending and cut housing development charges in an effort to spur new builds, Prime Minister Mark Carney and Premier Doug Ford announced Monday.

The federal and provincial governments will each spend $4.4 billion on housing-related infrastructure over the next 10 years, Carney announced alongside Ford and Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow at a joint news conference in Etobicoke. 

The deal will cut development charges in half for three years, Carney said. Development charges are used by municipalities to pay for infrastructure that supports housing, like roads, sewers and water.

The majority of the $8.8 billion in funding is intended to help cover those infrastructure costs for municipalities that lower development charges, Carney said.

Ford said it’s now up to municipalities to “step up.”

“You come to the table, and we’re going to give you the infrastructure you need and save the taxpayers within your community a tremendous amount of money,” he said.

The funding deal is the first to be announced through the federal government’s Build Communities Strong Fund and is meant to help municipalities cut development fees by 50 per cent for the next three years.

Experts warn municipal development fees have ballooned and inflated the cost of homebuilding in recent years, making it harder to build much-needed supply.

The deal comes after Ford’s government announced plans in its newly-tabled budget to temporarily remove the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) for buyers of new homes. The 13-per-cent tax will be removed from new homes valued up to $1 million from April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027.

That’s on top of an existing HST rebate for first-time buyers of new homes valued up to $1 million, announced last year by the provincial and federal governments. 

The Ford government announced in 2022 that it planned to get 1.5 million more homes built in the province by 2031. The province has since backed off that goal, which it is not on track to meet, saying it is now a soft target. 

Ottawa recently announced it was earmarking $1.7 billion for all provinces and territories to boost housing supply however they see fit.

Chow, Ford together amid Billy Bishop takeover talks

Ford and Chow are also appearing together after having been at odds this month over Ford’s plan to take over city-owned land at Billy Bishop airport.

Ford said last week that the federal government, which governs the airport in a tripartite agreement with the city and Toronto Port Authority, is on board with the province’s plan.

Canada’s Transportation Minister Steven MacKinnon has said he would work with the province “to design a path forward.” Chow and city council voted last week to formally oppose the takeover.