‘We have to move even quicker’: Ottawa councillors outline their priorities at AMO conference

Doug Ford announced new infrastructure funding for cities on the first day of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference in Ottawa. CTV’s Austin Le

Ontario’s Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program is getting a $1.6 billion boost to help municipalities build more homes.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford made the announcement in front of a packed crowd at Rogers Centre Ottawa for the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) annual conference Monday morning.

“This brings the total size of the program to $4 billion and will support the construction of hundreds of thousands of homes across Ontario,” said Ford.

“Our province will continue investing in infrastructure and do everything we can to get shovels in the ground.”

That money will be available to municipalities for work such as building roads and bridges, as well as water and wastewater systems to accommodate growing communities.

“We do have a housing crisis. We hear about it all through the convention. Every municipality in Ontario has the problem, and across the country as well,” said Beacon Hill-Cyrville Coun. Tim Tierney.

“To be able to inject that kind of money into housing now is critical if we want to get those housing numbers up.”

Kanata South Coun. Allan Hubley echoed Tierney’s reaction but adds he was hoping to see the province go a step further in reducing red tape hindering the province’s housing start numbers.

“We have innovative companies here that are looking at different ways of building housing faster and the province is moving a bit on regulatory measures to help get that going faster, but we have to move even quicker,” said Hubley.

“We have got to find ways to get permits issued faster and houses started for people who need them.”

Ford has previously laid out an ambitious goal of building 1.5 million homes by 2031, but the province is well off pace when it comes to meeting that target.

According to the province’s financial accountability officer, housing starts in Ontario were at the lowest levels since 2009 in the first quarter of 2025.

The hope is that funding announcements like the one made on Monday will help to spur development and reverse that trend.

Aside from housing, Hubley says he was disappointed Ford failed to mention public transportation during his 10-minute speech Monday morning.

“I would have liked to have heard a little more about what’s going on with the transit file for Ottawa. During the campaign they talked about uploading parts of that,” said Hubley.

“We’re looking for more detail on that and some timelines.”

Ford’s campaign promise that Ontario would give Metrolinx oversight of the O-Train lines is estimated to save the city roughly $4 billion over 30 years.

In May, Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy’s provincial budget mentioned the government is studying the potential upload of the O-Train system to the province, but there is still no timeline.

“In my end of town, transit is an issue. Ridership is dropping because of changes that have been made to the system, and we need to reverse that,” said Hubley.

Another issue that is top of mind at the AMO conference for some, including Tierney, is the construction of a ring road in Ottawa.

“We see seven days a week of traffic now in our city. We have a population now of 1.2 million people. We have to have an alternative route around the city,” Tierney said.

“Even though a ring road was removed from [the city’s] transportation master plan, I am hoping that during these discussions we will get it back on the table and not have to wait two or three years to start planning for that ring road. The time is now.”

Tierney adds he has meetings lined up with Ontario’s Minister of Transportation, Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria, Carleton MPP and former Ottawa city councillor George Darouze, as well as the premier over the course of the four-day conference.

“Hopefully, we can find a solution rather than wait for the next term of council to start proceeding,” said Tierney.

In July, city council approved the Transportation Master Plan – a multi-billion-dollar plan that lays out road and active transportation as well as public transit investment needs over the next 20 years.

A motion to conduct a “full and fair evaluation” of a southern ring road was passed at the public works and infrastructure committee meeting in June. Council removed the reference to the ring road in the final plan.

“Even though it passed at the committee, it was overturned and removed at council, and we have heard from citizens that are very upset about this,” said Tierney.

“I am hoping that the province can make us take a second look at this and get it back into our plan, at least so we can start talking about it and developing it now. Otherwise, it’s going to be three or four years, we’re not going to make any progress, and it will just be paralysis from congestion in our city.”

The AMO conference wraps up Wednesday afternoon.

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