The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, the Honourable Robert Flack, has written a letter to Heads of Council inviting municipalities to apply to the new DC Reduction Program.

Highlights of that letter include:

• This program is part of the historic Canada-Ontario Partnership to Build announced on March 30th, which will provide up to $8.8 billion in new infrastructure funding to municipalities that reduce and maintain development charge reductions.

• While the program requires DC reductions of at least 30% to 50%, retroactive to March 30, 2026, municipalities are strongly encouraged to be as ambitious as possible in their DC rate reductions to secure as much funding as possible for their communities.

• The program will help municipalities to fund and build the infrastructure needed for growth, including housing-enabling infrastructure, such as roads, water and wastewater systems, transit and community infrastructure, such as fire and police infrastructure.

• Municipalities will be required to fund at least 10 percent of project costs, with greater municipal contributions leading to higher funding eligibility.

• Municipalities must also put forward shovel-ready projects from their DC background study and capital plan that are anticipated to start construction no later than July 31, 2030, and be completed by October 31, 2035.

• Joint applications are also encouraged, but all applicants would be required to meet the immediate and ongoing program requirements.

• All Ontario municipalities (single-tier, upper-tier and lower-tier) that have an active DC by-law in place (as of March 30, 2026) are eligible to apply.

• Municipalities that took action to reduce DCs prior to March 30, 2026, are also encouraged to apply to receive recognition for their efforts in supporting new housing developments.

• The province is moving expeditiously to launch the program with a single intake period from June 1st to the 19th to commit all funds for the next ten years to also capitalize on the temporary enhanced HST relief on new homes so that the summer construction season is maximized to unlock housing.

A copy of the letter can be found here.