Taylor did not ask us to ignore the 12,000-home target. He asked us to look harder at why Newmarket said it could not responsibly accept it. His answer focused on sewage capacity and a provincial approval process that went on for years.
His point was simple: the servicing problem did not appear overnight.
Taylor told us York Region had already done the environmental work for the Upper York sewage plan and then spent years waiting for a provincial decision. In a follow-up, he put it this way:
“We waited 7 year and then were told to start over and go South.”
That is Taylor's wording. We checked the timeline against Ontario and York Region records before changing this article.
The original question was whether Newmarket lost millions of dollars simply because Council refused Ontario's target of 12,000 new homes by 2031.
The answer is still no. But the reason is clearer now.
First, the funding was never automatic
Ontario required municipalities with assigned housing targets to commit to those targets to gain access to the Building Faster Fund. Newmarket did not accept the 12,000-home target. Council adopted a target of 6,400 instead.
That choice mattered. It closed one door to the program.
But signing the pledge was not enough on its own. Ontario also required municipalities to reach at least 80 per cent of their annual housing target to receive a Building Faster Fund award for that year.
Then we checked the sewage history
This is where Taylor's response changed the article.
York Region submitted the Upper York Sewage Solutions environmental assessment to Ontario in July 2014. Ontario's ministry review was completed by 2016 and said the assessment contained enough information for a decision.
The final approval did not come. In 2021, Ontario passed legislation that stopped ministerial decision-making on the Upper York project and prevented York Region from moving it forward. In 2022, the Province changed direction and moved York Region toward a Lake Ontario solution through the York-Durham system.
So the central point Taylor raised is supported: Newmarket and York Region had spent years pursuing one servicing plan, and the Province ultimately changed the path.
One part still needs careful wording
Taylor described the missing step as the Minister's signature. The public record supports a long wait for a provincial decision, but it also shows that consultation with Indigenous communities remained part of the process.
So we can support the long-delay point. We cannot reduce the entire approval file to one missing signature.
Where the story lands now
Newmarket did refuse Ontario's 12,000-home target. That had consequences for access to the Building Faster Fund.
But there was no guaranteed cheque waiting for the Town. The program had a separate annual performance test. And the sewage-capacity concern behind Newmarket's position was real, documented before the funding fight and tied to a provincial process that remained unresolved for years.
Taylor challenged our framing. The records gave his core point weight, so we changed the story.
What we checked
Emails to NewmarketStandUp on September 4 and September 8, 2026, concerning sewage capacity, the Upper York timeline and the provincial decision process. Copies on file with NewmarketStandUp.
Housing-target commitment requirement and the 80 per cent annual performance threshold.
Open Ontario releaseNewmarket's adopted 6,400-home pledge and the Town's explanation of servicing constraints.
Open Town recordOfficial project history, including the 2014 environmental assessment submission.
Open Ontario project pageThe ministry review found the assessment met the approved terms of reference and contained sufficient information for a decision, while consultation issues remained under consideration.
Open ministry reviewThe later provincial direction toward the Lake Ontario and Duffin Creek solution.
Open York Region pageSeptember 17, 2026: Article #001 was rewritten in a shorter format with Mayor Taylor's direct response placed first. The updated version keeps the distinction between Building Faster Fund eligibility and actual annual funding, and gives greater weight to the documented wastewater timeline.
When a source raises a point that changes our understanding, we check it and update the story.