The Justin Trudeau government is threatening to withhold Ontario funding earmarked for affordable housing, claiming that “almost no progress” has been made by the province. In a letter sent on March 21, Housing Minister Sean Fraser wrote that Ontario had pledged to deliver 19,660 affordable housing units as part of a 10-year bilateral deal signed in 2018.
“This leaves 94 per cent of the target to be achieved during the last three years of the agreement, which is not realistic,” Fraser wrote to his provincial counterpart, Ontario Housing Minister Paul Calandra. “Ontario is lagging desperately behind all other provinces and territories. The lack of progress jeopardizes the completion of both Ontario’s housing targets, and Canada’s national target.” Fraser noted that unless Ontario provides a revised plan that shows how it intends to meet its targets, it will not receive a promised $357 million in funding from the federal governmen