Nov. 9, 2024 — West End Home Builders’ Association

The West End Home Builders’ Association (WE HBA) congratulates the City of Burlington’s Pipeline to Permit Committee for endorsing the proposed Surety Bond Pilot Program. While the Province of Ontario is currently consulting on implementing mandatory surety bond policies province-wide, WE HBA is pleased to see Burlington showing local leadership in addressing the housing crisis today. The adoption of the proposed Surety Bond program will unlock millions of dollars for local investment in housing — at no cost to Burlington taxpayers.

Last March, as the city launched its new Pipeline to Permit Committee, it encouraged the community to bring forward new ideas to improve the development process. WE HBA’s CEO, Mike Collins-Williams, introduced the idea of the City of Burlington advancing a Pay-on-Demand Surety Bond program. Surety Bonds are an emerging financial tool being adopted across Ontario, as they unlock private financial capital for re-investment in new infrastructure and housing projects.

Historically, the city has required only Letters of Credit to ensure site work can be completed if a developer is unable to finish a project. Letters of Credit are an effective form of security but pose a significant downside to developers. Under Letters of Credit, banks require collateral from the developer, typically in cash on a dollar-for-dollar basis. This cash is essentially held stagnant, rather than being used to fund the project at hand or to support further investment. The newly developed Surety Bond Pilot Program will enable up to five developers to use bonds rather than collateralized credit. This is an innovative solution that WE HBA brought to the table, and the association is proud of its members — Marsh Canada, Masters Insurance, Raise Underwriting, and Jones DesLauriers Insurance Management Inc., among others — who helped provide the city with a deeper understanding of the bonding process as the city was developing this new policy.

Moving forward with enabling bonding shows Burlington is leading the province in improving project feasibility and reducing barriers to development.