The Ford government does not know whether it will continue to update a housing tracker signed less than three years after it was first introduced as a bid to motivate local governments to build homes faster.
In August 2023, Ford’s government began setting targets for the number of new homes in towns and cities around Ontario, promising them extra money if they meet those goals.
“We’ve made significant progress in our work to build more homes faster across Ontario, and I look forward to working together to build the homes Ontarians need and deserve,” then housing minister Steve Clark.
The government created an online tracker to share how cities were doing to meet their targets and to allow it to add its own definitions of new housing.
In the months and years that followed, the government added long-term care beds, basements, nursery suites, student dorm rooms and nursing homes to the definition of a new home as it sought to reach a target of 1.5 million new homes by 2031.
Its tracker was initially updated regularly, and cities that reached — or came close to — their targets were rewarded with giant checks and cash.
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But as time has passed and the Progressive Conservatives’ election promise of 1.5 million new homes has faded into near-impossibility, the tracker appears to have been dropped.
Internal documents previously obtained by Global News show the government has completed its tabulation data for new homes built in 2024 through February 2025.
It waited until August to release data showing that, even after adding long-term care and student beds, it had failed to hit its self-imposed target.
Now, the government is handing back checks to councils that hit their housing targets, while its tracker remains dormant.
The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing has not responded to Global News’ questions about whether it still plans to update its tracker, which still shows data from 2024.
“Ontario is in last place when it comes to home building, and yet Doug Ford refuses to have a plan to change that,” Ontario NDP Leader Marit Sties said in a statement.
“The premier doesn’t want to release the numbers because he doesn’t want to admit that his housing policy efforts have failed again. Doug Ford has had eight years to figure this out and Ontario is further behind than when he first took office. It’s embarrassing.”
The lack of updates to the tracker comes nearly a year after Minister for Municipal Affairs and Housing Rob Flack suggested he was considering changes to the three-year fund in its final year.
Last summer, he told the Association of Ontario Municipalities conference in Ottawa that he would consult with mayors and the association to “expand and improve” the Faster Build Fund.
“This includes making sure the fund reflects the new market we’re in, as well as encouraging municipalities to lower development fees and get shovels in the ground faster on key infrastructure projects,” he said.
The finance minister has since admitted that the 1.5 million-home plan is now a “soft target,” and Flack himself has seemed increasingly noncommittal about whether Ontario will meet the goal.
“It’s no surprise that the Ford government has yet to release updated data on municipal housing starts, especially when his government is on track to miss its housing targets for the fifth year in a row,” said Ontario Liberal MPP Adil Shamji.
“The delay allows him to avoid responsibility until a time in the future when, he hopes, his housing record will be less embarrassing. However, he is already responsible for the fact that Ontario has consistently offered the lowest housing starts in the country.”
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
