Premier Doug Ford today delivered a keynote during AMO’s annual conference in Ottawa. Below is a brief summary of his address:

• Announcing September 3^rd as the intake date for the third stream, Community, Culture, and Recreation Stream, of the federal Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program

  • The program was first announced in March 2019 and consists of $30 billion in total infrastructure spending over the next ten years in the province

• There will be transitional funding for budgeting process in 2020

  • No specifics were mentioned beyond this

• Increasing funding for land ambulance services by almost 4% for this year, which will “continue to increase in 2020”.

• No changes to the structure of the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund for 2020

  • No specific amount of funding allocation was mentioned

• Through an initiative led by Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark, Ford announced 94 reports have been eliminated and 27 reports to be consolidated or simplified in an initiative to reduce the reporting burden. Examples include ‘eliminating’ eight reports in the long-term care home sector and ‘simplifying’ cemetery and crematorium reports under the Bereavement Authority of Ontario

  • Reducing the reporting burden has been a primary advocacy file for AMCTO since 2017 and we have been working as a municipal stakeholder with the Ministry to work toward broad and sustainable change

• Eliminated a rule to require an environmental assessment before a municipality could begin construction in its Housing Supply Action Plan