RELATED: Asked about the federal government's plan to directly work with municipalities on housing construction, and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's opposition to this, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said on Monday that it's a "no brainer" that collaboration is important. He said he appreciates any federal money coming in, and it's ultimately up to the municipalities to decide what's best for their housing needs.
But timing is everything since an updated bylaw on the charges would need to be in place by July 1, as per guidelines from the Ministry of Education.“We’re hoping to get that information to really make a decision quite quickly in order to be in line with regulation,” she said. The charges are drawn from standard residential development fees typically collected from builders to pay for municipal infrastructure, like roads, water and community centres.Current rates collected by the HWDSB are $1,573 per residential unit and are set to increase July 5 to $2,040 per unit.