Money earmarked for supportive housing, Ronald McDonald House expansion and Invest Ottaw
Ottawa could get millions of dollars from the provincial budget for new supportive housing, but the budget doesn’t say anything about the city’s request for many more millions to pay for things like a transit shortfall and costs related to a protest convoy.
Finance Minister Peter Bethenfalvy put forward the Progressive Conservative budget on Thursday. It adds $202 million a year to the Homelessness Prevention Program and the Indigenous Supportive Housing Program.
On a per-person basis, Ottawa’s share of the money would be about $14 million, but it could be more.
The budget document says that “supportive housing gives people in need a roof over their heads.” “It also puts them in touch with services that can help them get back on their feet, such as mental health support and job training.”
But the 186-page budget said nothing about Ottawa’s and other cities’ requests to pay for transit deficits caused by less people taking the bus or train because of the pandemic. This year, OC Transpo has a $39-million deficit that it wanted the province to cover.
- Provincial grants don’t cover the whole amount of the city’s transit deficit
- The transit commission approves a budget that has a $39 million hole.
When asked about how to pay for transit deficits, finance officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity pointed to the $4 billion that the provincial and federal governments gave to municipalities as part of the COVID-19 “Safe Restart Agreement.”
At a news conference, Bethenfalvy was asked why there isn’t money in the budget to cover Toronto’s budget shortfall. He repeated what the finance officials had said, but he didn’t say that there would never be another bailout.
The province’s finance minister said, “We need cities and towns to do their part, so we’ll help cities with their money problems.”
Last year, the city’s transit system had a shortfall of $85 million, which was not covered by the restart money for 2022. Instead, the city had to find $22 million to make up the difference.
There was also no mention of making up for the city’s lost income because of the province’s controversial housing Bill 23, which was passed last fall. The law gets rid of many of the fees the city charges in order to make housing more affordable, but theCity officials say that it could lose $26 million a year.
Even though the province said it would pay back the shortfall, it first wants to audit the planning process in a few cities, which it hasn’t done yet.
There was also nothing in the budget about helping with$50 million in costs for derechoOr the $37 million that wasn’t planned for.Costs from the protests at the convoy from 13 months ago.
But cities will get a share of an extra $110 million over the next three years to help them be better prepared for emergencies. This includes a new emergency response fund that will give cities immediate help when an emergency happens.
More money goes to the Ronald McDonald House and Invest Ottawa
The province is paying for a number of ongoing projects in Ottawa, such as the new Civic campus of The Ottawa Hospital, the widening of Highways 410 and 17 in eastern Ontario, and the expansion of high-speed Internet in rural areas.
The Guns, Gangs, and Violence Reduction Strategy will get an extra $13.4 million, which is less than $1 million for Ottawa.
But this budget gives brand-new money to two groups in the area.
The Ottawa Ronald McDonald House will get $3.1 million from the budget. The nonprofit group that helps out-of-town families whose children are being treated at CHEO by giving them a place to live and other services is growing so it can more than double its capacity.
Last summer, the federal government put $9.2 million into the $18.9-million project.
The economic development agency in Ottawa is also getting a boost, as well as more room to work.
Invest Ottawa receives a little less than $5 million a year from the city for operations, and millions more from upper levels of government to help create jobs and spur innovation. In 2021, the last year for which we have numbers, the province gave $9.8 million to Invest Ottawa.
The province said in Thursday’s budget that it would give Invest Ottawa an extra $1 million a year for the next three years so that it could “grow into a Regional Innovation Centre hub for Eastern Ontario.”