On November 16, 2023, the Province introduced Bill 150, the Planning Statute Law Amendment Act, 2023, which became law on December 6, 2023.
Bill 150 enacted the Official Plan Adjustments Act, 2023 (the “OPA Act”), which reversed provincial modifications to official plans (“OPs”) and official plan amendments (“OPAs”) that had been adopted by 12 municipalities. The Bill also amended section 47 of the Planning Act regarding Ministerial Zoning Orders (“MZOs”).
A few days later, on December 13, 2023, the Province posted a bulletin entitled “Ontario Taking Action to Support Municipal Partners in Building More Homes and Protecting Taxpayers” (the “Bulletin”), found here. The Bulletin indicates that the Province will:
- Introduce new legislation in 2024 to reverse the dissolution of the Region of Peel;
- Commence consultation on revocations, amendments and monitoring of previously passed MZOs;
- Provide clarity on the application of development-related charge exemptions for “attainable housing”; and
- Commence consultation on development-related charges and fee refund frameworks.
Each of these items is discussed in detail below.
Bill 150, Planning Statute Law Amendment Act, 2023
The OPA Act
The OPA Act reversed most provincial modifications to the following municipal OPs and OPAs issued on November 4, 2022:
- York Region (new OP);
- Peel Region (new OP);
- Halton Region (OPA 49);
- Niagara Region (new OP);
- Hamilton (OPAs 34 and 167); and
- Ottawa (new OP).
It also reversed most provincial modifications to the following municipal OPs and OPAs issued on April 11, 2023:
- Waterloo Region (OPA 6);
- County of Wellington (OPA 119);
- Guelph (OPA 80);
- Barrie (new OP);
- Peterborough (new OP); and
- Belleville (new OP).
The result is that provincial modifications to those OPs and OPAs are deemed to never have been made, unless the modification is expressly excluded by the OPA Act, or the proponent has obtained a building permit on the basis of the provincially modified OP.
Based on our review, the provincial modifications left intact following the OPA Act generally relate to: protecting the Greenbelt, strengthening indigenous relations, industrial land use compatibility, protecting safe drinking water and preparing for Highway 413.
The OPA Act requires that municipal and Tribunal decisions must conform with the version of the OP or OPA that is in effect at the time of the decision. That rule displaces the Clergy Principle which would otherwise hold that the applicable policy is the one in force on the day an application is made.
Lastly, the OPA Act precludes almost all causes of action arising directly or indirectly from these reversals.
Notably, while the Province indicated that it would consider submissions by affected municipalities respecting any provincial modifications which they wish to retain, the OPA Act was passed before the municipalities’ submissions were due and it does not appear that these submissions/requests were implemented in the OPA Act.
The Planning Act
Bill 150 added 9 subsections to section 47 of the Planning Act, which establish immunity provisions to limit lawsuits relating to MZO decisions.
The Bulletin
Revocation and Enhanced Monitoring of MZOs
In September 2023, when the Province officially announced that it was reversing the changes to the Greenbelt Area made by the former Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing in December 2022, it also announced that it would be reviewing MZOs to “increase transparency and support government priorities”.
The Bulletin outlines that the review will consider MZOs issued since 2018 when the current government came into power. Notably, the Province has issued 111 MZOs in this time period, the first dating back to April 29, 2019.
The following criteria will be considered when reviewing MZOs:
- Whether there has been substantial progress on additional downstream approvals required for the development.
- Whether there has been substantial progress on addressing water and wastewater servicing within a reasonable timeframe.
- Whether substantial progress was made on all or part of the lands.
The following MZOs are considered out of the scope of review:
- MZOs requested by the Province to deliver on provincial priorities including transit-oriented communities, long-term care facilities and hospitals;
- MZOs made to fulfil contractual obligations; and,
- MZOs made since December 1, 2022. The Province indicated that this is because proponents have not had enough time to have made substantial progress.
Initially, 8 non-housing MZOs have been proposed for revocation and 14 housing MZOs have been proposed for review. The non-housing MZOs under review for revocation are posted on the ERO for comment here. The housing related MZOs under enhanced monitoring for lack of progress are posted on the ERO for comment here. Interested parties are to submit their feedback before January 27, 2024.
The Bulletin also announced that the Province will be conducting consultations to develop a more open and transparent process for the consideration of MZO requests. With the exception of three specific MZOs, no further MZOs will be issued until this consultation process is complete. The three MZOs which will be approved in advance of the consultations relate to requests made by Provincial agencies concerning hospital flight paths and a new battery plant and one endorsed by the Mayor of Toronto for a regionally significant Halal grocery store.
Peel Region to Remain
On May 18, 2023, the Province introduced Bill 112, the Hazel McCallion Act (Peel Dissolution), 2023, which came into force and effect on June 8, 2023. The enactment of Bill 112 started the restructuring process in preparation to dissolve Peel Region by January 1, 2025. A transition board to facilitate this dissolution was appointed in July 2023.
The Bulletin states that the Province will introduce legislation in the new year that would recalibrate the transition board’s mandate from the proposed dissolution of Peel Region to, instead, make the Peel government more efficient by improving Regional services such as policing, paramedics and public health. The Province stated that it hopes the transition board will work to remove any duplicative layers of regional bureaucracy from the administration of these services.
New Attainable Housing Program
Bill 23, the More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022 introduced development charge (“DC”) exemptions for, among other things, select “attainable residential units”. These exemptions were to come into force on a date to be proclaimed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council, with the expectation that “attainable housing” would be defined through future regulation. As these provisions have not yet come into effect, the Bulletin indicates that the Province will now introduce a definition of attainable housing and exempt housing that meets that definition from DCs. The definition is proposed to apply only to modular home demonstration sites, including surplus provincial and municipal lands, with the intention of incentivizing early development of modular, attainable homes.
DCs and Fee Refund Frameworks
The Province is also terminating ongoing audits of the municipal finances of Toronto, Mississauga, Caledon, Brampton, Newmarket and Peel Region, and instead, engaging in consultations with those municipalities on the impacts of Bill 23 and their ability to fund growth-related infrastructure that will support the construction of new homes. Potential changes, which would be made by future legislation, include:
- The requirement to phase-in DC rates over five years for DC by-laws;
- The removal of studies as an eligible capital cost for DCs; and
- The planning application fee refund framework introduced through Bill 109, the More Homes for Everyone Act, 2022 may be modified or removed. At present, zoning by-law amendment and site plan applications require municipalities to refund application fees where a decision is not made within the legislative timelines.
The Province has stated that DC exemptions and reductions for non-profit, affordable and purpose-built rental homes introduced by Bill 23 will not change.
That’s it for the policy round-up, until next year!
