​Bruce County calls for a joint social and economic prosperity review

Bruce County has called on the provincial government, through a pre-budget consultation submission, to take strategic action on issues, such as rural infrastructure funding, energy host community support, poverty reduction, rural transit, community safety, rural health care, housing affordability, and long-term care.

The current municipal funding model in Ontario is failing to meet the needs of communities, particularly rural and growth-intensive regions, such as Bruce County.

Municipalities, responsible for nearly half-a-trillion dollars in critical infrastructure, are forced to rely predominantly on property taxes and user fees - revenue sources that neither grow with the economy nor keep pace with inflation.

Meanwhile, municipalities across Ontario continue to subsidize provincial responsibilities by almost $5-billion, annually, straining their ability to fund local priorities.

Since 2020, Bruce County has contributed more than $126-million through the tax levy to areas identified by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) as provincial responsibilities. These areas include long-term care, paramedics, public health, Ontario Works, and housing.

The challenges are exacerbated by unprecedented growth pressures, climate-related infrastructure demands, and a housing affordability crisis that disproportionately impacts communities such as Bruce County.

To address these systemic issues, Bruce County supports AMO’s call for a social and economic prosperity review. This joint provincial-municipal review would update the provincial-municipal fiscal relationship, ensuring sustainability for both levels of government, fairness for taxpayers, and equity for communities.

Bruce County urges the provincial government to prioritize this initiative in the 2025 budget and work collaboratively to build a funding framework that supports Ontario’s municipalities as they address today’s challenges while planning for the future.

“The county is proud to be a critical partner in feeding and powering Ontario - supporting the province’s energy, housing, and economic development priorities,” says warden Luke Charbonneau. “The county remains committed to working collaboratively with the provincial government to make life better for our residents and businesses.”

The county has worked with provincial counterparts over the past year to identify areas that would support the county’s success in continuing to power the province:
 

• Access to Infrastructure Funds: Earmark infrastructure funding specifically for rural municipalities, such as Bruce County, to ensure they can support growth, address infrastructure gaps, and continue delivering critical services for the province.
• Funding for Energy Host Communities: Expand funding to municipalities hosting energy project expansions and develop a principle-based framework to ensure host communities are supported in their engagement with impact assessments and licensing processes. 
• Poverty Reduction: Fix social assistance rates and reform the Ontario Works system to enable recipients to achieve financial independence and meet local workforce needs. Ontario Works rates have not increased in six years despite inflation, leaving individuals in poverty and increasing strain on municipalities delivering Ontario Works. Rates and the system are insufficient to prepare clients for financial independence and workforce participation.
• Rural Transit: Make the Community Transit Grant permanent and expand funding eligibility to municipalities, such as Bruce County, to establish and sustain rural transit systems beyond reliance on property tax revenues.
• Community Safety and Well-being: Provide sustained provincial funding for community safety and well-being initiatives to ensure their continued success and cost savings. The province mandated municipalities to create Community Safety and Well-being Plans but provided no ongoing funding to sustain their implementation.
  Rural Health Care: Pilot a mandatory municipal role in Ontario Health Team (OHT) governance in Bruce County to address the unique health-care needs of rural communities.
  Housing Affordability: Amend Ontario Reg 221/07 to allow Bruce County to create an upper-tier Community Improvement Plan to streamline housing solutions, reduce administrative burdens, and accelerate affordable housing development.
  Long-Term Care: Work with Bruce County to develop sustainable funding models for municipal long-term care that recognize inflationary pressures, resident acuity, and the unique contributions of municipal long-term care homes.

This month, the county shared a detailed pre-budget consultation submission with Ontario finance minister Peter Bethlenfalvy, Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson, Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound MPP Rick Byers, and AMO.