Ron Butler, a mortgage broker and commentator on Canadian housing policy, posted a series of tweets on March 30, 2026, analyzing the Ontario government’s recent housing announcement. In his posts, Butler outlined key aspects of the plan and raised questions about its potential impact.
Butler began by summarizing the main components of the announcement: “Important Things To Understand About Today’s Housing Announcement In Ontario – It’s the Provence & Feds providing an $8.8B Fund to allow Ontario Cities to reduce Development Fees by 50% for a 3 Year Period – Combined with the Announcement of no HST on New Construction” (March 30, 2026).
He went on to highlight disparities in how different municipalities might benefit from the fund: “- Let’s say the Development Fees for a Singe Family Home in Timmons are $25K & in Toronto they are $290K, Timmons gets $12.5K & Toronto gets $145K from the Fund, a new Watermain in Timmons & Toronto cost about the same. Timmons got screwed – Why just 3 years?” (March 30, 2026).
In another tweet, Butler addressed who would be most affected by these changes: “- This 50% reduction in Development fees will have much less impact on Hi-Rise Condos than Singles & Townhomes because Condos are bought by Investors & take 4.5 to 7 years to complete construction – Investors are still way too shell shocked by the Condo Crash to jump in now” (March 30, 2026).
The Ontario government has announced measures intended to stimulate new home construction through reduced development fees and removal of sales tax on new builds. The three-year window for these incentives is designed as a temporary boost amid ongoing concerns over housing affordability and supply shortages across Canadian cities.
Butler’s comments reflect ongoing debates regarding how provincial policies affect urban versus rural communities and which segments of the housing market stand to benefit most from government intervention.
