Grants and Incentives

Community improvement plans

To assist with the creation of affordable housing and to encourage downtown redevelopment and revitalization projects, the City of Peterborough has two community improvement plans that allow for financial incentives for certain types of projects. The plans are called the Affordable Housing Community Improvement Plan and the Central Area Community Improvement Plan.

Affordable Housing Community Improvement Plan

Through the Affordable Housing Community Improvement Plan, we provide financial incentives to stimulate the construction of affordable housing in our community.

Providing affordable housing is a major social issue and a priority for most urban communities across Ontario. By providing relief on fees for planning approvals, development charges, and property taxes, we can help lower rents, creating more affordable housing for residents. The Affordable Housing Community Improvement Plan also embraces home ownership models.

Affordable Housing Community Improvement Plan programs

There are several programs under the Affordable Housing Community Improvement Plan, including:

  • Municipal Incentive Program – refunds municipal fees such as planning application fees, parkland fees, and cash-in-lieu of parking fees for affordable housing projects.
  • Development Charges Program – refunds development charges for any new affordable housing units, subject to available funding.
  • Tax Increment Grant Program – an annual grant to property owners, reimbursing a portion of the municipal property tax increase resulting from increased assessment over a period of nine years.

Please see our Affordable Housing Community Improvement Plan application package that outlines the programs and provides the application form for the available incentives.

Central Area Community Improvement Plan

Through the Central Area Community Improvement Plan, we provide financial incentives to stimulate private-sector investment and revitalization of the Central Area (Defined as the Schedule J area in the Official Plan). We provide grant programs to:

  • help improve the appearance and the structure of commercial buildings;
  • encourage the conversion of upper floor space for residential use; and
  • to stimulate the environmental clean-up and redevelopment of older, abandoned industrial and commercial sites that may be contaminated.

Our Central Area financial incentives brochure provides an overview of the Central Area Community Improvement Plan and other financial incentives available to support downtown development.

Central Area Community Improvement Plan application packages

Note: Application packages now have the option to be electronically filled out using Adobe Acrobat Reader. Physical signatures are required as part of a submission.

Heritage Property Tax Relief

Owners of designated heritage properties in the Central Area may be eligible for tax relief in the amount of 40% for residential properties or 20% for commercial properties.

For more information on this program, please contact us at 705-742-7777 ext. 1489.