On January 27, I was happy to present comments on behalf of the Town at the Ministry of Finance’s Provincial Budget Consultation to Parliamentary Assistant MPP Michelle Cooper, MPP Billy Pang and MPP Logan Kanapathi.
Good afternoon. My name is Iain Lovatt, Mayor of the Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville. Thank you for the opportunity to participate in this year’s provincial budget consultation.Stouffville is one of Ontario’s fastest-growing communities—home to 60,000 residents today and projected to grow to more than 110 000 by 2051. As a community situated on the Oak Ridges Moraine, we offer a unique blend of rural, natural, and urban living that attracts families and businesses alike. But rapid growth brings significant financial pressures—pressures that municipalities cannot shoulder alone if we are to deliver on provincial housing and economic priorities.
Our message to you today is simple and urgent: small, fast-growing GTHA municipalities need permanent, stable, and predictable funding. Without it, the communities driving Ontario’s growth will be unable to keep pace with the responsibilities placed upon them.
Stouffville relies heavily on residential property taxes—about 90% of our revenues come from homeowners. Yet for every dollar collected, the Town keeps only $0.34; the rest goes to York Region and the school boards. That $0.34 must fund all municipal operations and our capital plan. With construction inflation among the highest in the country, our dollars no longer stretch far enough. We are deferring or cancelling infrastructure projects that our growing population urgently needs. Despite these pressures, Stouffville maintains the 7th lowest tax rate in the GTHA again this year and was named the 2nd most livable city in Ontario and 1st in York Region by the Globe and Mail in 2025.
Expectations on municipal service delivery continue to expand. Residents expect modernization, digital access, strong cybersecurity, and accessible services. Labour costs continue to rise across the GTHA. Smaller municipalities face higher per-unit costs for essentials like software, fleet, equipment, and consulting services. Our Asset Management Plan identifies a $14.6-million annual infrastructure funding gap—one that grows as we build homes to meet provincial targets.
Temporary enhancements to programs like OCIF and OMPF have helped, but they are not solutions. Municipalities need permanent funding streams indexed to construction inflation or CPI so we can plan responsibly, tender competitively, and deliver infrastructure on time and on budget. OCIF criteria must evolve so municipalities can align funding with evidence-based asset management plans—not narrow categories that hinder long-term planning. And while we appreciate increases to OMPF, Stouffville does not qualify for core funding as a small urban GTHA municipality. Transitional support is being phased out by 2030, creating a growing structural gap without any viable path to core funding. At the same time, restrictive provincial land-use policies in the Oak Ridges Moraine countryside area have left the Highway 404 corridor along our boundary as a stranded provincial asset. Unlocking this corridor for industrial and commercial development would provide thousands of jobs, a more balanced tax base reducing these mentioned pressures, and long-term revenue stability—benefiting both the Town and Ontario’s broader economy.
In closing, Stouffville stands ready to be a committed partner in building homes, supporting families, and driving Ontario’s economic success. But we need predictable, flexible, and inflation-indexed funding to meet our shared goals responsibly and sustainably. Thank you for your time, and I look forward to continued collaboration.
