TORONTO — The Ontario government has announced it is investing up to $1 billion in loans to provide municipalities with more financing options for water infrastructure projects that enable the construction of more homes.
According to a release, the new Housing-Enabling Water Infrastructure (HEWI) lending stream, under , will support the construction, expansion and rehabilitation of drinking water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure projects. IO will begin accepting applications from municipalities on Dec. 2.
The new IO HEWI lending stream complements existing provincial programs, such as the , the release continues.
The lending stream allows municipalities to take advantage of flexible borrowing terms that allow them to defer interest payments during the construction phase until projects are substantially complete, select longer debenture repayment terms of up to 40 years, choose more flexible repayment terms and incur lower administration costs.
“We continue to hear from our municipal partners that one of the greatest barriers to building more homes is the need for new and expanded drinking water, wastewater and stormwater management facilities,” said Kinga Surma, minister of infrastructure, in a statement. “I know there are communities across the province that want to get new homes built but need to expand their water capacity first. This new flexible financing option will help more municipalities get shovels in the ground on much-needed water infrastructure projects and more homes.”
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