Housing minister Paul Calandra's recent admission there may be flaws in the way the province collects new housing data is reinforcing a push from the City of Cambridge to get its share of funding for meeting 80 per cent of its annual housing target last year.
Calandra made the admission last week in response to concerns from four municipalities, including Cambridge, who said they were short changed on last year's tally.
To qualify for money under the province's Building Faster Fund, municipalities need to hit at least 80 per cent of their housing starts as tracked by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
According the CMHC's calculations, Cambridge came in just short of reaching 80 per cent of its goal for shovels in the ground on 1,393 new homes last year.
It meant the city missed out on nearly $4 million in funding to build infrastructure that supports growth.
The fund was touted as one way the province planned to make municipalities whole after the government gutted their ability to collect development charges at the same rates they'd been used to.
Cambridge's deputy city manager of community development, Hardy Bromberg told CambridgeToday earlier this year that he knew the province's housing starts data was off as the city's own calculation was telling a very different story.
According to him, the city reached 88 per cent of its 2023 housing starts target.
"We've been in communication with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, and they've recognized that there are some discrepancies in the numbers," said Bromberg.
"We're not talking $10,000 or $20,000, we're gonna be talking millions. So for me, and I think from the staff's perspective, it's really important to get these numbers right."
Despite claims to the contrary, CMHC told Canadian Press it stands by its data.
In the week since the province admitted the numbers could be flawed, Bromberg said the city still hasn't been given a clear path to getting what it's owed if and when the 2023 data gets revised.
But he thinks this is a great first step in correcting any errors.
"This is millions and that's very significant for our community and our economy is very different from last year to two years ago to five years ago," he said. "What we're trying to do now is repair and get a better understanding of the discrepancies from 2023 that we as a city feel like we've met."
Cambridge is unlikely to meet its goal of 1,583 new home starts this year.
Like many municipalities around the province, 2024 has seen a significant drop in housing starts with Cambridge only reaching 20 per cent of its target so far with just over six months left in the year.
Building permits and construction on approved projects are not happening as fast as the city would like to see, Bromberg said.
"We're trending below what we would normally expect for the year in building permits and that obviously has to do with interest rates and people's ability to purchase new dwelling units," he said.
"So, with all the planning work that we've been doing, I think you will see the increase in housing, but it might not happen in 2024."
The city just approved a new 1,200 residential unit apartment complex on Laurel Street, but that project isn't expected to break ground for a few years.
It will, however, be one of many developments Bromberg is confident will help the city reach its target of 19,000 new homes by 2031.
