Ottawa Home Builders Praise ‘Canada-Ontario Partnership to Build’; Urge the City of Ottawa to Cut Development Charges Immediately

 

OTTAWA, ON – March 30, 2026 – The Greater Ottawa Home Builders’ Association (GOHBA) is praising the newly announced ‘Canada-Ontario Partnership to Build,’ a federal–provincial agreement providing a combined $8.8 billion over 10 years. The initiative prioritizes municipalities that reduce development charges (DCs) and maintain those reductions for three years, helping to make housing more affordable and accelerate construction.

 

With DCs having more than doubled in the last 10 years, GOHBA has consistently raised concerns about the negative impact of rapidly increasing DCs on housing affordability in Ottawa.

 

“Development charges in Ottawa have increased almost 30 per cent over the past two a half years and are scheduled to be indexed another 3.6 per cent on April 1,” said Jason Burggraaf, GOHBA’s Executive Director. “So while previous infrastructure funding announcements have been welcome, this arrangement is particularly impactful because it’s not just funding for un-identified infrastructure related to growth, but it demands that municipalities cut DCs as the first step.”

 

Lowering government-imposed costs, particularly DCs, has been GOHBA’s long-standing priority to stimulate new home construction and restore affordability. Cutting DCs in half would return them to 2016 rates, immediately improving project viability and helping to deliver more homes faster.

 

Reducing DCs will also help lower the amount of tax-on-tax collected that’s driving up prices on new homes. Fees like DCs are applied before HST and the provincial land transfer tax, meaning buyers are paying additional taxes on already-inflated costs.

 

“We strongly urge the City of Ottawa to move immediately to cut its development charge rates, get funding from the new agreement, and build the infrastructure projects that are in our DC background study that will support new housing supply,” said Burggraaf.

 

GOHBA is committed to working with all levels of government, policymakers, industry stakeholders, and communities to get homes built and advance practical, scalable solutions to increase housing supply and affordability for residents in Ottawa and across Ontario, now and into the future.