SHANLY – Premier Doug Ford had a message for cities and municipalities looking to add development charges to the cost of building a new home, “I wouldn’t do it.”
Ford’s message was in response to a question from The Leader during a press conference on November 12.
The Municipality of South Dundas is presently investigating adding development charges to new housing construction. While several municipalities in Cornwall and SDG Counties have development charges, South Dundas has never had development charges. Premier Ford said he did not support adding development charges.
“Well you know something, the development charges are the worst thing you could do, because you’re taking money out of people’s pocket.”
Ford said the federal and provincial governments are doing their part already in helping lower costs by removing the Harmonized Sales Tax for first-time home buyers.
“That’s 13 per cent,” he said. Referring to home and condo prices in the Greater Toronto Area, and using $1 million as a property price, “That’s $130,000 we’re giving back to the buyers.”
According to the Canadian Real Estate Association, the average home sale in September 2025 for Cornwall and SDG was $535,000, an increase of 4.9 per cent from 2024. Real estate brokerage Royal LePage said the average price of a home in South Dundas is $579,848.
Ford continued about development charges saying, “I totally discourage these development charges.”
Referring back to the cost of a home in the GTA, Ford said development charges can make up to 40 per the cost of a home.
“So you’re buying a $1 million home, $1 million condo, $400,000 is gouging the taxpayer, taking money out of their pocket, and you wonder why homes are not available.”
While final development charge fees in South Dundas have not been set, the consultant working with the municipality looked at adding approximately $10,000 as a charge locally, in addition to municipal water and sewer connections at $10,000. Water and sewer connection charges have existed for nearly 20 years since new water and treatment facilities went online.
Referring to municipal governments, the Premier said municipalities needed to “get their financial act together.”
Reflecting back to his time serving on Toronto City Council, he said, “I can tell you, we didn’t jack up the development charges when I was down their with my brother Rob. They were as low as anything, people could afford homes, and we delivered a zero per cent tax increase.”
Ford spoke about municipal spending in general across the province.
“Rather than complaining, I can tell you one thing folks, government doesn’t have an income problem; they have a spending problem and they need to be held accountable. They need to get their books audited and find the waste and the endless amounts of red tape and regulation.”
South Dundas council is expected to decide on the final amount of development charges by 2026. Municipalities are allowed to enact development charges through the provincial Development Charges Act passed in 1997.
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