May 16, 2025
With the release of the 2025 Ontario Budget: A Plan to Protect Ontario, Ontario’s Big City Mayors (OBCM) are encouraged to see investments in key priorities for Ontario’s largest cities.
Municipalities are facing complex and extraordinary challenges — ranging from housing shortages and aging infrastructure to the ongoing homelessness, addictions, and mental health crisis — all of which impact our local economies and residents’ daily lives. Addressing these issues requires strong collaboration between municipal and provincial governments. This budget reflects progress on that front, with new investments in critical areas and opportunities for continued municipal involvement as further details emerge.
Addressing Trade, Tariff, and Procurement Concerns
- Expanding the Skills Development Fund (SDF) by nearly $1 billion over the next three years to further help train and reskill Ontario workers, including those directly impacted by layoffs resulting from tariffs
- This funding will assist workers gain the knowledge and training needed to be able to weather the impacts of these economic challenges.
- Providing up to $5B to the Building Ontario Fund to partner with Canadian institutional investors to help unlock infrastructure projects in key priority sectors like energy, affordable housing, long-term care, and transportation.
- OBCM has been advocating for investments in large scale infrastructure projects to help stimulate local economies (see Motion here) and keep our residents working in the face of impacts of US tariffs.
- The previously announced Protect Ontario through Free Trade within Canada Act to unlock free trade and labour mobility within Canada, the new Protecting Ontario Account, and the expansion of the Ontario Made Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit, and other initiatives.
- Municipalities have requested every tool available in order to buy local and buy Canadian when it comes to procurement and trade. We support measures to remove any impediments to municipalities preferring Canadian companies and services for capital projects and other supplies (see Motion here).
Addressing Housing and Housing-Enabling Infrastructure
- The recently announced Protect Ontario by Building Faster and Smarter Act, 2025 will help speed up the construction of new homes and infrastructure through measures such as streamlining development processes and reducing costs.
- Municipalities hope to working closely with the provincial government on enabling regulations for this legislation towards our shared goal of getting more homes built faster for our residents
- The recently announced funding increase for housing-enabling infrastructure by adding $400 million in immediate funding to the Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund (HEWSF) and Municipal Housing Infrastructure Fund (MHIP)
- These additional investments will help to support community growth and unlock the housing our residents urgently need, something OBCM has been asking for
- We are also pleased to see that the Building Faster Fund continue for another year to support the build of housing in the province
Investing in Public Safety
- A top priority for our Mayors, we are pleased to see that the province has committed to :
- Further investments in the Guns, Gangs and Violence Reduction Strategy.
- Two new helicopters to increase patrols, security, and enforcement at key U.S. border entry points, along with additional border security enhancements.
- New legislation that would amend the Highway Traffic Act to give police the authority to search for and seize electronic devices that are intended to be used for vehicle theft.
- Permanently establishing a dedicated Major Auto Theft Prosecution Response Team to focus on crime hotspots and provide legal advice and prosecutorial support to police services and help dismantle organized crime networks, holding offenders accountable and cracking down on carjackings and home invasions.
A New, Sustainable, and Flexible Municipal Funding Model
- Ontario’s Big City Mayors continue to call for a new municipal funding model for Ontario municipalities.
- The last significant review was more than 15 years ago and it’s time that the province sat down with municipalities to work on a new deal to address the discrepancy between services being delivered and provincial transfers
- We thank the government for the investments in critical infrastructure, especially those that will help bring urgently needed housing to our communities – but we will continue to advocate for a sustainable and predictable funding model so municipalities can plan for future growth, management and repair
Mental Health, Addictions and Homelessness Crisis
- Addressing the mental health, addictions and homelessness crisis has been a longstanding priority for OBCM
- We appreciate previous investments in the Homelessness Prevention Program, HART Hubs, and the newly announced funding to help stabilize the community-based mental health and addictions services sector. However, the crisis continues to grow at a rate that outpaces provincial and federal funding.
- Municipalities, in collaboration with community partners, are making significant investments to tackle this issue, but property taxes alone cannot sustain the financial burden. In 2024, AMO reported that municipalities covered 51.5% of the $4.1 billion spent on housing and homelessness programs in Ontario. This funding model is unsustainable.
- OBCM’s SolvetheCrisis.ca campaign has developed key asks from municipalities of both the provincial and federal governments, so we can tackle this head on and take action now – please visit www.solvethecrisis.ca for more details on our asks
“Amid growing economic uncertainty, this budget signals the province’s commitment to listening to municipalities and collaborating on shared priorities. Investments in critical infrastructure are essential to support new housing and meet the needs of our rapidly growing communities. As municipalities across Ontario confront today’s economic challenges head-on, we’re working closely with the province to find practical solutions that benefit residents, businesses, and local economies alike. At the same time, we must not lose sight of our responsibility to support our most vulnerable, ensuring they have access to the programs and services they need now more than ever.”
- Mayor Meed Ward – Mayor of Burlington and Chair of Ontario’s Big City Mayors
About Ontario’s Big City Mayors
Ontario’s Big City Mayors (OBCM), is a non-partisan organization that includes mayors of 29 single and lower-tier cities with a population of 100,000 or more, who collectively represent nearly 70 percent of Ontario’s population. OBCM advocates for issues and policies important to Ontario’s largest cities.
Media Contacts
Mayor Marianne Meed Ward, Chair Michelle Baker, Executive Director
chair@obcm.ca michelle@obcm.ca
905-335-7777 647-308-6602