Statement from Mayor Carter on the Canada-Ontario New Development Charge Reduction Program

Oshawa Mayor Dan Carter has released the following statement in response to the $8.8 billion federal-provincial New Development Charge Reduction Program announcement:

“The Canada-Ontario New Development Charge Reduction Program is a bold and cooperative approach by the Federal government and the Province of Ontario to tackle the housing supply and affordability crisis our nation is facing.

Today’s announcement demonstrated a shared commitment by all three levels of government, including municipalities, to support faster housing supply and affordability. The City of Oshawa has and will continue to share this commitment to accelerate housing and infrastructure development to support housing affordability and economic growth.

The City of Oshawa is a leader in eliminating barriers to residential construction and has a long-standing track record of supporting accelerated construction of housing through development charge reductions and expediting the permitting process. Since 2004, Oshawa has waived and maintained zero development charges for all new housing development within the Downtown Urban Growth Centre. Additionally, between 2010 to 2020, development charges were waived for all new housing developments within the Simcoe Street North Corridor.

Oshawa is ready to put shovels in the ground and will put forward a list of projects to support infrastructure growth and accelerate construction of housing throughout the municipality. Oshawa’s growing communities of Kedron and Columbus combined are planned to accommodate a population of 46,000 in proximity to the Provincial Highway 407. In addition, there are 1,600 residential units currently in the development pipeline in the Downtown Oshawa Urban Growth Centre and at least an additional 2,800 residential units city-wide that could potentially be built within the next two years, with appropriate funding.  

Oshawa remains a committed partner in this work and looks forward to continuing to collaborate with the Federal and Provincial governments to build more homes, strengthen Durham Region communities and grow a more resilient economy to build Canada and Ontario strong.”

To learn more about Oshawa’s actions taken to support housing development, visit Oshawa.ca/housing