City says housing construction will be better in 2025
Posted Sep 18, 2025 01:34:40 PM.
Last Updated Sep 18, 2025 01:34:48 PM.
The City of Ottawa is being asked by the province to contribute many new units in the next several years to help increase housing availability in Ontario.
The government gave the municipality a target of building 151,000 dwellings by 2031, which represents 10 per cent of the province’s 10-year and annual targets. Since this mandate came into effect, the provincial government has allowed a “ramp-up” period with smaller targets before hitting similar goals over the next several years.
A memo from city staff notes that the municipality has completed 95 per cent of the assigned target from January 2022 to December 2024, because of strong construction in 2022/23.
To incentivize cities to build more units, the Ontario government created the Building Faster Fund (BFF), which awards cities that complete above targets an extra boost.
Last year, Ottawa’s goal was 12,583 and the municipality could only build just over half.
This shortfall impacted the City’s ability to receive 2024 funding from the annual Building Faster Fund (BFF),” the report reads. “Housing starts in 2024 were more reflective on the state of the economy rather than municipal effort.”
When the city does achieve its target, the benefits are large. In 2023, it accomplished 93 per cent of the target and received $37.5 million from the province.
Due to the city not meeting the goal in 2024, it expects no additional funding, but staff write things should be looking up this year.
“Available year-to-date (YTD) CMHC data for 2025 shows stronger performance than in 2024 with over 2,500 additional dwellings or 64 per cent higher than the same period last year,” the report notes.
