Doug Ford hires auditors to probe finances in Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton and other cities

Premier Doug Ford has named the auditors who will swoop in to probe city finances in Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton and other GTA municipalities.

Thestar.com
July 27, 2023
Robert Benzie

Premier Doug Ford has named the auditors who will swoop in to probe city finances in Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton and other GTA municipalities.

After a competitive procurement process, Ernst & Young LLP has been hired to examine civic finances in those cities, as well as the soon-to-be-disbanded Peel Region, Caledon and Newmarket.

The audits are expected to cost $3.8 million.

Ford wants to address the municipalities’ concerns that their development-related fees and charges would be drastically cut by his housing policy changes designed to boost supply.

The Progressive Conservatives are promising to build 1.5 million new homes by 2031 to tackle the fast-growing province’s housing crisis, but construction is falling well below their targets.

That means the Tories need an average of 150,000 new homes annually, even though the best year in Ontario housing starts since 1987 was 100,000.

To encourage more construction of rental housing, the province is eliminating development-related charges on affordable and non-profit housing units and cutting by up to 25 per cent the fees for “family-friendly purpose-built rentals.”

But the Association of Municipalities of Ontario has warned the changes could cost cities and towns $5 billion in lost revenue.

Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark said Wednesday the audits, which will be completed by the end of this year, are “a critical part of our work to rein in the soaring cost of housing across Ontario.

“We want to ensure development-related charges and fees are being used in a manner that supports increased housing supply and critical housing-related infrastructure, but which does not unduly raise the cost of finding a home for hardworking Ontarians,” said Clark.

In Toronto, residential development charges range from $25,470 to $93,978 per unit depending on the size of the home.

Municipalities insist they need those funds to pay for infrastructure required with new housing projects, such as roads and waterworks.

A spokesperson for Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said her office was confident the audit would show the city needs “significant reimbursement from the provincial government to make up for lost revenue caused by the changes.”

“The mayor is optimistic that the provincial government will recognize the financial impact of their changes and step up to support the city by replacing the lost revenue,” said Shirven Rezvany, adding “this needs to happen quickly.”

City staff have previously estimated the changes will cost Toronto more than $200 million annually, with the impact already being felt this year.