Ontario Announces New Rural Economic Development Program

The Ontario government announced new measures to support rural communities and residents at the 2025 annual Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) conference. These measures include a new Rural Economic Development Strategy announced by Minister of Rural Affairs Lisa Thompson, with $10 million in annual funding in a new Rural Ontario Development Program aimed at supporting economic growth, workforce capacity and business development in rural communities.

“Our government is continuing our historic investments in the success of rural Ontario because we understand how critical rural Ontario is to the success of the entire province,” said Premier Doug Ford. “After years of neglect from previous governments, we are making sure rural communities are seeing the new investments, infrastructure and homes they need to thrive and create new jobs and opportunities.”

Kinga Surma, Minister of Infrastructure, announced the government is opening applications for the $175 million Health and Safety Water Stream of the province’s Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program (MHIP) starting February 12, 2025, to ensure communities across the province have access to safe drinking water, reliable wastewater services, and are protected during extreme weather events. This funding is part of the government’s historic ongoing investments to help municipalities and First Nations preserve and increase housing supply across the province.

Minister Surma also announced the province has completed evaluating applications for funding from the $400 million Housing-Enabling Core Servicing Stream of the MHIP and has approved 58 successful projects across 60 municipalities. These projects will help enable up to 160,000 new homes and ensure these growing communities are connected to reliable roadways. Successful recipients will be announced in the coming weeks.

“Our government is working with municipalities and First Nations to ensure they have the support they need to maintain crucial water infrastructure assets and promote housing growth in their communities,” said Minister Surma. “Proper maintenance of our water and wastewater infrastructure is critical for protecting our homes and businesses and ensuring communities have access to clean drinking water. We remain dedicated to supporting municipalities and First Nations by delivering the critical infrastructure their communities need today and for generations to come.”

A news release stated that Minister Thompson’s announcement of a new Rural Economic Development Strategy is a key pillar in the government’s plan to help rural communities address the challenges they are facing and take advantage of new opportunities. As part of this strategy, the government has replaced its previous Rural Economic Development Program with the new Rural Ontario Development Program and is doubling its funding to $10 million annually over the next two years for a total of $20 million.

Ontario is also investing an additional $52 million in 2025 to help municipalities address the increasing operational pressures of Ontario Works program delivery so that vulnerable Ontarians can continue to get the financial assistance they need.

“Our government believes in and is committed to enabling opportunity, which is the foundation from which we built Ontario’s rural economic development strategy,” said Minister Thompson. “Our plan to support rural Ontario reflects how our entire government is working together to ensure our programs and policies enable strong and dynamic rural communities.”

The Enabling Opportunity: Ontario’s Rural Economic Development Strategy focuses on three key areas:

• Safe and Strong Rural Communities– improving local economic development capacity and championing local leadership, supporting the rehabilitation of municipal and community infrastructure, optimizing rural connectivity, and supporting communities in developing plans for housing and transportation to ensure rural communities are places where people want to live, work and play.
• Business Development and Attraction– supporting rural communities and other economic development partners in strengthening and growing rural business, encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation, attracting investment, revitalizing downtowns and diversifying regional economies.
• Growing the Rural Workforce– helping grow local talent, raising awareness of job opportunities available in rural Ontario, supporting workers in obtaining the skills needed to succeed, and attracting and retaining workers so rural communities and small towns thrive.