Sweeping Changes to Land Use Policies Announced by Province of Ontario Today

Today, the Province of Ontario announced sweeping changes to land use policies. To call the changes major, impactful, and pro-development would not be an exaggeration. We are still digesting the changes and what they will mean for our development initiatives, but we offer the following points as a “tip of the iceberg” summary to what was announced.

1. OMB Rules are back but will be delivered through the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT) structure:

• Appeal decisions based on best planning outcome vs. conformity to Official Plan and Zoning.
• Changes remove restrictions on a party’s ability to introduce evidence and call/examine witnesses at hearings.
• LPAT has power to make final determinations on appeals, rather than having to go back to council.

2. Streamlining the process:

• Proposed planning decision timelines of 120 days for Official Plan Amendments (OPA), 90 days for Zoning By-law Amendments (ZBA), 120 days for plans of subdivision.
• Limit third-party appeals of plans of subdivision and approval authority non-decisions of OPAs.

3. Reduce barriers and costs for developers and provide greater predictability:

• Development Charges rates and Section 37 contributions to be determined and locked at time of permit application rather than issuance but remain payable at the time of issuance. 

4. Harmonization of Ontario Building Code with National Codes to open new markets for manufacturers and bring construction costs down.

5. Improvements to the Ontario Heritage Act:

• Create new mandatory standards for designation by-laws and establish new time limits to confirm a complete application for alteration and demolition, and for designation decisions. This will help ensure that timelines are not extended inappropriately to hinder development.
• Ensure municipal decisions on designation and alterations to heritage properties can be appealed to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal, whose decisions are binding. There was previously no appeal mechanism for heritage decisions.

This list really is just a brief selection and summary of what we believe are the most material items in an impressively comprehensive list of proposed changes. We will be working very closely with our friends and colleagues in the industry over the coming days, weeks, and months to better understand the implications of today’s announcements and will be sure to share our findings with you and your team. In the meantime, we are happy to discuss further during upcoming project meetings.

Very interesting times indeed!

R*