The City of Windsor and the Town of Tecumseh are getting more money than they applied for from an $8.8 billion fund designed to help build more homes.
The federal and provincial governments announced $84.4 million on Friday for Windsor and Tecumseh through the Development Charge Reduction Program (DCRP).
The funding will help invest in infrastructure projects in return for a reduction in development charges for all housing types from March 30, 2026, to March 31, 2029.
Ontario’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Rob Flack says we need all types of housing and critical infrastructure in the ground to support that, but development charges keep going up, causing affordability issues.
“The cost of building has gone up significantly, so have DCs. Development charges are a tax, make no bones about it. New home builders and businesses pay for these development charges. Municipalities need them to get the pipes in the ground and those critical infrastructure pieces built,” he says.
Windsor will receive $77.6 million for reducing development charges by 70 per cent with the funding going to support the city’s stormwater management and roadway infrastructure, including widening and extending key road corridors along Howard Avenue, Walker Road, and the Cabana Road-Lauzon extension to the new 401 interchange, and work on the Ojibway Trunk Line.
The investment is projected to spur the construction of up to 10,000 new homes while the reduction in development charges is estimated to reduce the cost of building new homes by up to $49,452 per home in Windsor.
Windsor’s Commissioner of Finance and Treasurer, Janice Guthrie, says the original application was for $49 million.
“The province came back and said we really like what you’re doing, and we’re really encouraged by the housing numbers,” she says. “The fact that we went to the 70 per cent DC reduction, they said, ‘Can you give us another project? We have more money available if you’re able to come to the table.’ We said ‘absolutely.’”
Tecumseh’s Director of Public Works and Engineering Services Phil Bartnik says this money will help enable the construction of just over 700 homes with the infrastructure improvements.
“Our application was for a little less than the $6.7 million. It’s my understanding that because we put forth a 50 per cent reduction for development charges, we were awarded a little more than what we asked for,” he says.
The Town of Tecumseh is reducing development charges by 50 per cent.
The funding will support new trunk sanitary sewer infrastructure to support the Tecumseh Hamlet Secondary Plan Area, which is expected to result in the construction of 700 new homes.
The reduction in development charges is estimated to reduce the cost of building new homes by up to $18,078 per home in Tecumseh.
The Ontario and federal governments previously agreed to provide relief on the full HST on eligible new homes from April 1, 2026, to March 31, 2027. When combined with the DCRP, these initiatives could save families in Windsor up to $179,452 and families in Tecumseh up to $148,078.