TORONTO — Hamilton and Vaughan will cut — or wipe out — residential development charges for three years. In return, Ontario and Ottawa are sending them up to $1.27 billion.Hamilton is getting $572 million through the Development Charge Reduction Program after agreeing to eliminate development charges on all residential builds from March 30, 2026, to March 31, 2029.Vaughan is in for up to $697.2 million. It is cutting residential development charges by 50% over the same three-year window. Qualifying projects that hit set construction milestones pay nothing from February 25, 2026, to October 31, 2027.That is the deal. Cities stop charging builders the usual growth fee. Senior governments backfill the pipes, roads, and plants those fees were supposed to pay for. The city still covers at least 10% of eligible costs from local taxpayers.Development charges are municipal levies on new homes to fund water, sewers, and roads. About 219 Ontario municipalities levy them. Builders treat them as a cost of construction. Buyers usually see them in the price. The governments say dropping the fee will lower that price..The program required at least a 30% cut for three years. Hamilton went to zero. Housing Minister Rob Flack said that, and the strength of the city’s application, is why Hamilton scored at the top of a competition for one pot of money. A separate $1 billion stream is for municipalities that do not levy development charges.Hamilton’s complete waiver is estimated to cut the cost of building a new home by up to $100,442. Vaughan’s changes are estimated at up to $98,056. Officials stack that with the temporary removal of the full HST on eligible new homes — up to $130,000 — and say savings could approach $230,000. Those figures are estimates, not a guaranteed rebate at closing.Asked whether the discount lands with buyers or builders, Flack said the cut should show on the invoice and that Bill 98 is meant to force that transparency. He said the province will “continue to monitor it.” Hamilton West–Ancaster–Dundas MP John-Paul Danko told builders the sticker price only matters if they pass the savings on.Hamilton says the fee holiday plus the infrastructure money could unlock more than 31,000 new homes. Vaughan puts its figure at more than 120,000 units. Those are city numbers. They are not completed starts. Flack separately said provincial new-home sales were up 130% year over year in the second quarter of 2026..The cash is meant for housing-enabling infrastructure: road widenings, watermains, pump stations, and plant upgrades. The program sits inside an $8.8 billion, 10-year Canada-Ontario infrastructure pot. Flack said municipal groups put Ontario’s water and wastewater need over the next 10 to 15 years at up to $250 billion. This cheque does not close that gap.Premier Doug Ford framed the money as housing supply and jobs while U.S. tariffs hit construction. Flack announced the Hamilton allocation in Stoney Creek. Ford and federal Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu announced Vaughan’s. Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath called it the largest infrastructure expenditure in the city’s history.The question is whether the discount shows up in the sale price, and whether the 31,000 and 120,000 unit claims turn into occupancy permits.
