Sault Ste. Marie also exceeds 2023 housing targets

Following a stop in Greater Sudbury on Friday, Rob Flack, Ontario’s Associate Minister of Housing, also made the trip to Sault Ste. Marie.

Ontario’s Associate Minister of Housing Rob Flack presented the City of Sault Ste. Marie with a cheque for $600,000 to invest in housing and infrastructure. April 5, 2024. (X/Rob Flack)

Flack presented the city with a cheque for $600,000 to invest in housing and infrastructure.

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The Sault broke ground on 213 new housing units last year – exceeding its target by 194 per cent.

Sault Mayor Matthew Shoemaker along with the rest of city council said they will do what they can to keep up the momentum.

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Shoemaker said the $600,000 in provincial funding is a testament to the city’s busy building season last year and that he anticipates more progress this year.

“Just last council meeting, we approved the biggest change to the zoning bylaw since it was implemented in the late 60s,” he said.

“(This) will allow multiple units on basically any property to help densify the city and help use the existing services to serve more people.”

The provincial funding will be used to build or upgrade supporting infrastructure, such as increasing sewer and water capacity.

Sault MPP Ross Romano said that the city is on the right track with housing development.

“We’re building here in Sault Ste. Marie and that’s a good thing,” said Romano.

“Obviously, we want to see more housing starts, we want to see more housing finishes.”

The MPP added that for the Sault community to be ahead of the game in this regard is positive.

“We wanted, as a government, to ensure that we rewarded that type of behaviour with extra funding,” said Romano.

“So $600,000 for the City of Sault Ste. Marie is a very good thing.”

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The city still has to submit a plan to the province on how it intends to use the funding but Shoemaker told CTV News that he anticipates it will be used to facilitate housing starts on under-serviced land.