The chair of the Windsor-Essex Home Builders Association believes a reduction in development charges will have a huge impact on the local real estate market.
The federal and provincial governments announced Friday over $190 million in funding from the $8.8 billion Development Charge Reduction Program (DCRP) for multiple municipalities across the region.
The money 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.
The spending is expected to spur the construction of near 47,000 new homes across the area.
Chair of the Windsor-Essex Home Builders Association Norbert Bolger says the reduction in development charges will have a huge impact on the real estate market.
“Just reducing, like Mayor Dilkens said, $49,000 is the discounted rate on a house; that mixed with the HST, we’re talking over $150,000 to $160,000 difference on a new home. I think that will make a tremendous impact, absolutely,” he says.
Windsor will receive $77.6 million for reducing development charges by 70 per cent, a move that’s estimated to reduce the cost of building new homes by up to $49,452 per home in Windsor.
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 development charge reduction, the initiatives could save families $170,000 to $180,000 on a new home purchase, depending on where it is in the region.
President of BK Cornerstone Design Build Brent Klundert says this will have a big impact for the municipalities that got into this program.
“The municipalities that have decided to take advantage of this-this is going to make a huge impact for them. To know what was for sale last year at a given price is now going to be discounted at the reduction, Windsor $49,000, for other municipalities with a 50 per cent development charge reduction, which could be $10,000 to $18,000; that’s significant,” he says.
Klundert says pairing the development charge reductions with the HST discount, which is only available for a set amount of time, may spur people to move quicker on buying a new home.
“As a builder, as a developer, we may choose to push projects forward because we want to have that available for the market, have that available for the consumer,” he says.
Tecumseh will receive up to $6.8 million, LaSalle will receive $25.4 million, Essex is getting $8.8 million, $11.8 million is going to the Municipality of Lakeshore, and up to $8.4 million to the Town of Kingsville for reducing development charges by 50 per cent for all housing types from March 30, 2026, to March 31, 2029.
The County of Essex will receive up to $51.2 million for eliminating development charges for all housing types in 2026 and 2027 and reducing development charges by 75 per cent in 2028, 50 per cent in 2029, and 25 per cent in 2030.