photo provided
Announcements at this week’s Rural Ontario Municipal Association conference left lots for small communities to be excited about.
MPP Lisa Thompson, the Minister of Food, Agriculture and Rural Affairs said that they were excited to open applications for the Rural Economic Development (RED) Program once again.
The program has been a success since it’s introduction in 2019, with an investment of $21.6 million in over 380 projects across the province.
Applications for the RED Program are open until February 21.
The province is also expanding the ability for rural communities to expand their populations.
The province announced the expansion of the $1.2 billion Building Faster Fund (BFF) to include small municipalities without assigned housing targets. Ten percent, equivalent to $120 million, of the BFF will be specifically allocated to these areas for building housing-enabling infrastructure.
