By Pam Wright
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
An affordable housing project in southeast Chatham has received a $440,000 boost from the province.
That’s thanks to a cash injection from Ontario’s Building Faster Fund – aimed at rewarding municipalities for exceeding housing targets.
Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Rob Flack offered words of praise for C-K’s leadership when making the official announcement in Chatham Sept. 5.
Flack thanked Mayor Darrin Canniff, council and staff for “getting the job done.
“We all know, and I think there’s no secret in this, that we are in the midst of a generational housing crisis,” Flack told reporters, as housing starts have not kept pace with Ontario’s growing population, which is now at 16 million people.
“As a result, we are seeing more first-time house buyers, families and seniors being pushed out of the housing market because they cannot afford a home,” the minister said. “This has to change. As a government, and governments, it is our collective responsibility to create conditions to get homes built.
“Our goal is simple…to help people own their own piece of Ontario,” Flack said. “It’s the quintessential Canadian dream.”
When it comes to hitting housing targets, Chatham-Kent is surpassing the mark in spades. In 2024, C-K broke ground on 311 new homes, exceeding its target of 92 by 338 per cent.
While grateful for the funding, Canniff said he’d like to see more cash flow to the municipality, noting the Building Faster Fund is based on a formula that focuses on historic averages.
Prior to the growth experienced in the last five years, Chatham-Kent was only building 20 homes per year, Canniff said, noting he’s asked the province to take another look at the process.
“Certainly, we’d like to see a bigger piece of the pie,” he said.
However, despite an overall slowdown in Ontario housing starts, including Chatham-Kent, Canniff said the number of housing permits has picked up in the last couple of months.
“But we’re confident that with all the things Chatham-Kent offers, we’ll be having a lot of people coming here in the next several years,” he said, noting a new 774-unit build by York Developments planned for Chatham is one of the biggest investments ever.
“They recognize it’s the place to be,” Canniff said. “They’re putting a lot of money into building more housing units.”
The Redwood Crescent and Eugenie Street affordable housing project to benefit from the additional funding will see two rowhouses built on vacant parkland. One of the structures will contain six family units, the other will house five family units with mixed affordability, with some classed as affordable, some deeply affordable and some at current market rent values.
The $5.2-million project went out for tender earlier this year. The federal government has kicked in more than $1.1 million and the province made an earlier commitment of $480,000.
The foundation for both structures has been poured, with completion is set for the end of 2026.
Announced in 2023, the Building Faster Fund is a three-year, $1.2-billion program with a goal of encouraging municipalities to cut red tape and speed up approval processes. This is the second round of funding.
Always Chatham. Why doesn’t C-K apply for funding for the outlying areas. There has been no new buildings or homes in Wallaceburg for over 25 years. Three parcels of land were designated for affordable housing over a year ago, and it appears all three developments have fallen away. And, what has developed over the past year with the Southside Development Project. A lot of hoopla and then nothing. Has it, as well, been ditched so Chatham can be further developed with out taxpayers’ dollars. Every community should get a percentage back for development – instead everything is invested in Chatham. I don’t want to hear lame excuses as to why Chatham always gets the lion’s share.