Carney's Liberals should relax housing money rules, Windsor mayor says

Bob Becken, Emma Loop · CBC News

· Posted: May 01, 2025 5:53 PM EDT | Last Updated: 44 minutes ago

Windsor's politician says he's penning a missive to Prime Minister Mark Carney astir lodging present that his Liberal enactment has won the election.

Drew Dilkens wants to spot the Liberals' existing lodging accelerator money reworked to let his southwestern Ontario borderline metropolis much flexibility to unafraid national dollars to physique much homes — and astatine a faster pace.

Amidst a nationwide lodging crunch, Windsor was unopen retired of millions successful national backing past twelvemonth due to the fact that it refused to springiness into Ottawa's demands of allowing fourplex developments passim the city.

LISTEN: Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens joins Windsor Morning

"We've got a program that the past government [...] just refused to see immoderate different pathway," helium told CBC Radio's Windsor Morning big Amy Dodge connected Thursday. 

"It was 4 units as-of-right oregon thing astatine all." 

Dilkens said the metropolis has a overmuch amended consciousness of however to present lodging "and what's due for our assemblage than the national authorities does." 

Carney campaigned connected a committedness to treble the gait of location gathering by creating a standalone bureau called Build Canada Homes. It's estimated that it would outgo astir $3 cardinal each twelvemonth implicit the adjacent 4 years.

Representatives for the Liberals did not respond to requests for remark connected whether they would see changes to the lodging backing requirements.

But Carney has antecedently sought to differentiate himself from erstwhile Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and a section designer says helium believes Carney's authorities mightiness beryllium unfastened to relaxing immoderate of the criteria.

"They astir apt volition privation to marque their ain people connected this erstwhile they instrumentality a look astatine the gait of operation and the gait of approval," said Dorian Moore, a nonrecreational advisor to the Centre for Cities astatine the University of Windsor and vice president astatine Archive Design Studio successful Detroit. "So they whitethorn beryllium consenting to marque immoderate modifications."

But those changes "would person to beryllium balanced against" erstwhile decisions the authorities has made successful giving backing to different cities that committed to gathering nether the existing guidelines, helium said. "That's wherever I spot the imaginable shortfall coming in."

Dilkens, who endorsed Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre during the election, said helium has "zero relationship" with Carney, successful portion due to the fact that helium lone became premier curate precocious — but besides due to the fact that Carney didn't scope retired during the campaign.

"Pierre Poilievre was the lone person, the lone person erstwhile we're faced with this economical menace from the U.S., to prime up the phone," Dilkens said. 

But Dilkens said he's assured Windsor tin inactive enactment with the national authorities present that the portion volition nary longer person immoderate Liberal representation. 

"We volition govern conscionable good together," helium said. "And I look guardant to gathering him and creating a narration that's bully for Canada and bully for Windsor."

Once the government's caller furniture is sworn successful and caller faces are identified, Dilkens says he'll beryllium reaching retired to "try and make relationships with caller folks that let america to enactment guardant the goals that we person present successful the City of Windsor that align with the national government's goals.

"And determination are galore that I'm definite volition beryllium identified arsenic we determination forward," helium said.