The first round of investments from Ontario’s new Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund will inject $970 million into 54 projects across 60 municipalities to develop, repair, rehabilitate and expand drinking water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure.
The Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund is part of the province’s capital plan of more than $190 billion to build critical infrastructure and at least 1.5 million homes to support growing communities for future generations.
In response to the high demand for the water infrastructure funding, the Ontario government said it will be allocating an additional $250 million for a second round of applications starting on August 14, bringing the total amount released by the fund to $1.2 billion.
“Recent flooding across the GTA underscores the real need for robust investment to upgrade aging water infrastructure and support sustainable growth across the region,” announced Nadia Todorova, executive director of the Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario, in a statement. “This funding is essential to help facilitate more housing in Ontario, mitigate future risks and maintain the smooth operation of our critical infrastructure as the province grows.”
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As part of the first round of funding, the province is providing the Regional Municipality of Peel with $35 million to support the expansion of the G.E. Booth Water Resource Recovery Facility. This project will enable construction of 46,784 housing units in the Region of Peel and includes the extension of water systems and installation of new features, such as an aeration tank and filtering systems. The expansion will increase the wastewater treatment capacity at the facility by some 40 million litres per day.
As municipalities and MPPs are still in the process of announcing successful applications, the full list of funded projects will be shared in early fall, according to the Office of the Minister of Infrastructure. However, provincial officials noted that the first round of funding includes a total of $456 million to support 30 projects in small, rural and northern municipalities without housing targets.
| Ontario Region |
Number of Projects Funded |
| Central | 19 |
| West | 20 |
| East | 11 |
| Northwest | 1 |
| Northeast | 3 |
Projects under the Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund are cost shared between municipalities and the province. The province funds a maximum of 73% (up to $35 million) of eligible project costs, and the municipality is required to fund all remaining (a minimum of 27%) eligible project costs. Municipalities may combine other federal and municipal funding to fund the 27% minimum recipient contribution.
