A coalition of provincial governments is pushing back against federal housing targets, arguing that funding conditions attached to infrastructure transfers amount to an overreach into areas of provincial jurisdiction.
At issue is a federal program that ties transit and infrastructure dollars to municipal zoning changes, including requirements to permit higher-density housing near transit corridors.
“We share the goal of building more homes. We don’t accept that Ottawa should be writing municipal zoning bylaws from a distance,” one provincial minister said at a press conference Thursday.
Federal officials maintain the conditions are necessary to ensure funding translates into actual housing supply rather than being absorbed into general municipal budgets.
Talks between the two levels of government are expected to continue ahead of the funding round’s application deadline next month.
