{"id":82302,"date":"2026-04-01T08:08:30","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T12:08:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/?p=82302"},"modified":"2026-04-01T08:08:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T12:08:30","slug":"fonom-calls-for-fair-housing-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/01\/fonom-calls-for-fair-housing-funding\/","title":{"rendered":"FONOM Calls for Fair Housing Funding"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM) acknowledges the recent Canada\u2013Ontario partnership to support housing development and infrastructure investment, including funding tied to the reduction of municipal development charges.<\/p>\n

FONOM supports efforts to increase housing supply and improve affordability across Ontario. However, the organization is raising concerns that the current program design may unintentionally place many Northern municipalities at a disadvantage.<\/p>\n

While the program provides funding to municipalities that reduce and maintain low development charges, many Northern communities do not levy development charges and therefore may not be positioned to benefit from this program in the same way.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe appreciate the commitment from both levels of government to address housing affordability,\u201d said Dave Plourde, President of FONOM. \u201cHowever, many Northern municipalities simply do not have development charges to reduce, and at the same time face some of the highest costs in the province to build homes and infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n

FONOM noted that municipalities across Northern Ontario often experience significantly higher per-kilometre costs for essential infrastructure such as water, wastewater, and roads, while also working with smaller tax bases and greater geographic challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowth still requires infrastructure\u2014whether or not a municipality charges development fees,\u201d added
\nPlourde. \u201cWithout access to comparable funding tools, Northern communities risk being left behind in their ability to support new housing and attract investment.\u201d<\/p>\n

FONOM is calling on both the Province of Ontario and the federal government to ensure that housing and
\ninfrastructure programs are applied equitably across all regions. \u201cWe are asking for fairness in how these programs are delivered,\u201d said Plourde. \u201cMunicipalities that do not levy development charges should not be excluded from accessing housing-enabling infrastructure funding.<\/p>\n

There must be complementary funding mechanisms to ensure all communities can participate in building the housing our province needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

FONOM emphasized that Northern Ontario communities are ready to grow and play a key role in addressing Ontario\u2019s housing challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cNorthern communities are part of the solution,\u201d said Plourde. \u201cWith the right tools and equitable support, we can continue to build homes, attract residents, and contribute to Ontario\u2019s long-term growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking Ahead<\/strong><\/p>\n

FONOM remains committed to working collaboratively with all levels of government to support economic
\ndevelopment, improve infrastructure, and strengthen Northern communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s budget includes several positive steps for Northern Ontario,\u201d said Plourde. \u201cWe look forward to
\ncontinuing to work with the Province and federal partners to build on this momentum and ensure our
\ncommunities have the tools they need to grow and succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM) acknowledges the recent Canada\u2013Ontario partnership to support housing development and infrastructure investment, including funding tied to the reduction of municipal development charges. FONOM supports efforts to increase housing supply and improve affordability across Ontario. However, the organization is raising concerns that the current program design may unintentionally place …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2637,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-82302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-northern-ontario"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-05 01:54:24","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82302"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82302\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82303,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82302\/revisions\/82303"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}