The following are examples of incentive programs offered by select municipalities and regions in Ontario, including how many years the unit must be kept affordable (ie. how long the incentive lasts), and the minimum requirement (maximum rent) to still be considered affordable and therefore eligible.
Most municipalities give preference to projects that provide lower affordability thresholds (eg. 80% of AMR instead of AMR).
Municipality | Programs | Affordability | Status |
---|---|---|---|
Barrie | Residential unit incentive ($20,000 per unit or $10 per sqft) Grants for: -Application and development charges -Building permit fees -Tax increment based funding (5 years) | Provincial Policy | |
Belleville | Development charge rebate Building permit fee rebate Tax increment equivalent rebate (10 years) Second units (new $2,500, existing $500-$2500) | AMR | Program defunded in 2023 Operating Budget |
Cambridge | Planning application and building permit fee exemption Development charge deferral (20 years) Tax increment grant (20 years) | AMR | |
Guelph | Grants of up to $70,000 per unit (20 years) | Provincial Policy | |
Kitchener | For non-profit corporations: Development application fee exemption Building permit fee exemption Development charge deferral | 80% of AMR | |
Orillia | Grants (20 years) for: -Development charges -Purchase price of land -Planning application, building permit and review fees (up to $25,000) | 80% of AMR (rental), 30% of income (ownership) | |
Peterborough | Tax increment grant (10 years) Exemption for: -Development charges (20 years) -Planning fees (20 years) -Property tax (10 years) (90% of AMR) | AMR | |
Region of Waterloo | Capital grants (25 years) Development charge grant Lower multi-residential property tax | rent + utilities < AMR | |
Sudbury | Residential unit incentive ($20,000 per unit or $10 per sqft) Development charge reduction/exemption Building permit fee rebate (up to $5,000) Tax increment equivalent grant (5 years) Second unit incentive (50% up to $50,000) | AMR |
York Region allocated 6% of their 2021 capital budget to support their housing corporation’s strategic plan. 74% of that portion will go towards constructing 500 new affordable housing units by 2025 with funding from senior levels of government, Regional reserves, debt that is repaid from Housing York Inc. revenues (mainly rent), and development charges.
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