Development charges slashed by 50% for three years under $8.8B Ontario–Federal deal

Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford and have announced a landmark $8.8-billion, 10-year agreement to accelerate homebuilding, expand transit and strengthen Ontario’s economy.

The Canada–Ontario Partnership to Build includes jointly funded investments in housing-enabling infrastructure, with a major focus on reducing municipal development charges by up to 50 per cent for 3 yaers ;a move aimed at lowering the cost of building new homes and improving affordability.

A key measure is a new Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) rebate that will remove the full 13 per cent HST on new homes priced up to $1 million, while offering up to $130,000 in rebates for homes valued between $1 million and $1.5 million. The plan is expected to deliver about $2.2 billion in tax relief to homebuyers.

The agreement also commits all levels of government to advancing major transit projects, including the Waterfront East Transit line in Toronto, expanded GO rail service across the Greater Golden Horseshoe and the proposed high-speed rail corridor linking Toronto and Quebec City.

Leaders say the deal will help speed up construction, support hundreds of thousands of jobs and ensure critical infrastructure projects move forward, even amid global economic uncertainty and tariff pressures.