$6 billion housing fund will likely bring 'significant millions of dollars' to city, London, Ont. mayor says

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced $6 billion in housing money Tuesday.

$1 billion will go directly to municipalities to support urgent infrastructure needs, while $5 billion will support long-term priorities such as wastewater infrastructure.

The money is welcomed news for the mayor of London.

“Investments like this will allow us to keep that momentum going,” said Josh Morgan.

That “momentum” is the 530 per cent increase in medium and high density housing builds through the first two months of 2024 compared to 2023.

"We've never seen this much construction before at one given time,” said Morgan. “Twenty cranes in the sky, 7,100 units of high density of one form or another under construction. We are not able to build the next 7,100 units without getting more infrastructure in the ground to support the next iteration of building in this community.”

It’s unclear how much money London will receive.

“If you think about the Housing Accelerator Fund, that was a $4 billion program where London received about $74 million,” said Morgan.

As of April 2024, the City of London currently has 20 cranes in the sky according to London, Ont. Mayor Josh Morgan. (Daryl Newcombe/CTV News London)

He explained, “I don't know what our allocation will be onto this $6 billion fund but [it] will be significant millions of dollars. $1 billion will be available immediately and the other $5 billion is subject to sign and agree with the province in certain conditions. So what the applications look like I think will be detailed soon by the Ministry of Housing and Infrastructure. We'll be prepared with projects to submit as soon as we possibly can. But the criteria for that those proposals are not yet known.”

The funding announcement Tuesday brought three MPs to the Forest City. It took place across the street from the future Joan’s Place, which received $4 million in funding from the federal government in 2023.

The final windows have now been installed, and tenants could be in the affordable units by the end of the year.

Tuesday’s funding announcement opens up more opportunities for those aged 20 to 45 to own a home, including those who are getting back on their feet at Joan’s Place.

A construction worker works on Joan’s Place at the corner of Richmond and York streets in London, Ont. on April 2, 2024. (Brent Lale/CTV News London)“We always assumed our business model that there's a nice turnover as people naturally move into other housing creates an ongoing opportunity for us to bring in new people,” said Steve Cordes, CEO of Youth Opportunities Unlimited. “We're still hoping for that but for that to happen, there has to be more housing options for people to move into.”

As part of the Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund announcement, $400 million is being added to the Housing Accelerator Fund.

“We’ll see 12,000 homes built across the country,” said Peter Fragiskatos, London North Centre MP.

He continued, “A lot of those homes can be built in southwestern Ontario. I know there's communities in the southwest that were not able to get access to the first flow of funds through the [Housing] Accelerator Fund. Those communities have put up their hand and they've said they want to see more changes in place as far as zoning to get more homes built. If they're willing to do that, then those funds could potentially flow that's a very realistic opportunity.”