$4.2B going to Ontario under $40B national housing plan

OTTAWA — Ontario will receive $4.2 billion more over the next 10 years for affordable housing under the first of several funding agreements the federal Liberals plan to sign by the end of the year.

The provincial and federal governments say the money set aside under the Liberal government’s national housing strategy, as well as other already-promised funds, will aim to preserve 130,000 units of social housing.

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Ontario will match some of the spending — particularly on a planned housing benefit — once it starts to flow next April.

All regions except Quebec have agreed to match about $7.7 billion in planned spending through to 2028 that could include money from cities, Indigenous organizations, charities, or the private sector.

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The Liberals hope to sign funding agreements with all provinces and territories by the end of the year to determine how much each jurisdiction will receive under the national housing strategy, which aims to spend more than $40 billion on affordable housing over the next decade.

The federal Liberals have set high targets for the decade-long spending plan to create and maintain hundreds of thousands affordable units, eventually providing direct benefits to some 300,000 households.