Act
Proposed Planning Act changes (the proposed More Homes for Everyone Act, 2022)
Regulation Number(s):
N/A
Instrument Type:
Act
Bill or Act:
Planning Act
Summary of Decision:
Bill 109, the More Homes for Everyone Act, 2022 was introduced on March 30, 2022 and received Royal Assent on April 14, 2022. Schedule 5 of Bill 109 made changes to the Planning Act related to zoning, site plan, plans of subdivision, official plans and official plan amendments, parkland dedication, community benefits charges, and financial instruments used to secure obligations in connection with land use planning approvals. Consequential changes were also made to the City of Toronto Act, 2006.
See link to the ERO posting (below) for more information on the changes.
See link to the ERO posting (below) for more information on the changes.
Analysis of Regulatory Impact:
Changes to the Land Use Planning System:
-Changes to the land use planning system would directly impact all 444 municipalities in Ontario.
-Municipalities would bear one-time upfront costs associated with learning the changes and updating their internal practices and procedures. They would also bear additional ongoing costs associated with additional workload and potential revenue losses (fee refunds) if decisions are not made within legislated timelines.
-Municipal staff would need to learn the changes, update processes and procedures, and potentially hire more staff to help process more applications faster.
-The average annual present value cost for all municipalities is estimated to be approximately $344,900 (or $776 each).
Section 69 of the Planning Act provides the authority for municipalities to establish tariff of fees by-laws to cover the anticipated cost to the municipality for the processing of the various planning applications under the Act, e.g., the cost of reviewing applications. There are no changes in this bill that will impact the ability of a municipality to set their planning application fees within this authority.
Potential Benefits
-The changes would primarily benefit businesses by expediting development approval processes, increasing certainty, removing barriers, and enabling more timely decisions.
CBC By-Law 5-Year Review
-The proposal is estimated to represent a minimal increase in administrative costs for municipal staff to review the by-law, including consulting with the public, and to prepare a resolution for council.
-At this time, total impacts cannot be assessed as it is not known how many municipalities will implement CBC by-laws.
Potential Benefits:
-This change would increase transparency and ensure that the CBC levied accurately reflects changing growth-related infrastructure costs of the municipality.
Tiered Alternative Parkland Dedication Rate:
-The impact would be limited to municipalities with Transit-Oriented Community developments and the compliance costs are anticipated to be minimal.
Potential Benefits
-This change would provide greater certainty of development costs for homebuilders and ensure that parks are created for Transit-Oriented Communities.
Regulation-Making Authority to Support the Use of Surety Bonds:
-There are no anticipated direct compliance costs associated with this proposal as implementation would be dependent on a potential future regulation.
Potential Benefits
-The increased use of surety bonds to secure development-related obligations in connection with land use planning matters could free up resources which developers could use to invest in more housing projects.
-Changes to the land use planning system would directly impact all 444 municipalities in Ontario.
-Municipalities would bear one-time upfront costs associated with learning the changes and updating their internal practices and procedures. They would also bear additional ongoing costs associated with additional workload and potential revenue losses (fee refunds) if decisions are not made within legislated timelines.
-Municipal staff would need to learn the changes, update processes and procedures, and potentially hire more staff to help process more applications faster.
-The average annual present value cost for all municipalities is estimated to be approximately $344,900 (or $776 each).
Section 69 of the Planning Act provides the authority for municipalities to establish tariff of fees by-laws to cover the anticipated cost to the municipality for the processing of the various planning applications under the Act, e.g., the cost of reviewing applications. There are no changes in this bill that will impact the ability of a municipality to set their planning application fees within this authority.
Potential Benefits
-The changes would primarily benefit businesses by expediting development approval processes, increasing certainty, removing barriers, and enabling more timely decisions.
CBC By-Law 5-Year Review
-The proposal is estimated to represent a minimal increase in administrative costs for municipal staff to review the by-law, including consulting with the public, and to prepare a resolution for council.
-At this time, total impacts cannot be assessed as it is not known how many municipalities will implement CBC by-laws.
Potential Benefits:
-This change would increase transparency and ensure that the CBC levied accurately reflects changing growth-related infrastructure costs of the municipality.
Tiered Alternative Parkland Dedication Rate:
-The impact would be limited to municipalities with Transit-Oriented Community developments and the compliance costs are anticipated to be minimal.
Potential Benefits
-This change would provide greater certainty of development costs for homebuilders and ensure that parks are created for Transit-Oriented Communities.
Regulation-Making Authority to Support the Use of Surety Bonds:
-There are no anticipated direct compliance costs associated with this proposal as implementation would be dependent on a potential future regulation.
Potential Benefits
-The increased use of surety bonds to secure development-related obligations in connection with land use planning matters could free up resources which developers could use to invest in more housing projects.
Further Information:
Planning Act
City of Toronto Act, 2006
Bill 109, the More Homes for Everyone Act, 2022
Proposed Planning Act Changes (the proposed More Homes for Everyone Act, 2022)
Community Infrastructure and Housing Accelerator – Proposed Guideline
Proposal Number:
22-MMAH006
Posting Date:
March 30, 2022
Summary of Proposal:
Update: Bill 109, the More Homes for Everyone Act, 2022 was passed by the Legislature and received Royal Assent on April 14, 2022. As such, please note that the public comment function on this posting is now closed. Please consider submitting comments on other related postings (https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/019-5283) and/or providing your comments directly to the Ministry at planningconsultation@ontario.ca.
We are introducing More Homes for Everyone, that proposes targeted policies for the immediate term that make housing fairer for hard-working Ontarians and make it faster to build the homes that families need and deserve.
As part of More Homes for Everyone, Schedule 5 of Bill 109 proposes to make changes to the Planning Act.
The proposed amendments, if passed, would, among other matters:
-Require municipalities to gradually refund application fees to applicants who do not receive a decision on their zoning by-law amendment applications or site plan applications within the legislated timelines. This would apply to applications made on or after January 1, 2023
-Establish a new Community Infrastructure and Housing Accelerator (CIHA) tool for municipal requests to expedite zoning outside of the Greenbelt area
-The Minister shall issue guidelines governing the scope of how this authority may be used, and the guidelines would need to be in place before an order could be made
-Require decisions on site plan applications to be delegated to staff for applications made on or after July 1, 2022
-Extend site plan application review from 30 to 60 days
-Establish regulation-making authority to prescribe complete application requirements for site plan applications
-Establish regulation-making authority to prescribe what cannot be required as a condition of subdivision approval
-Establish a one-time discretionary authority to reinstate draft plans of subdivision that have lapsed within the past five years, subject to consumer protection provisions
-Establish regulation-making authority to require public reporting on development applications / approvals
-Require municipalities with a community benefits charge (CBC) by-law to undertake and complete a review, including consulting publicly, on their by-law at least once every five years
-Provide the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing with new discretionary authorities when making decisions to:
-"Stop the clock" if more time is needed to decide on all official plan matters subject to Minister's approval (with transition for matters that are currently before the Minister),
-Refer all or part(s) of an official plan matter to the Ontario Land Tribunal for a recommendation, and
-Forward all of an official plan matter to the Ontario Land Tribunal to make a decision
-Establish regulation-making authority to authorize landowners and applicants to stipulate the type of surety bonds and other prescribed instruments to be used to secure obligations in connection with land use planning approvals
-Implement a tiered alternative parkland dedication rate for Transit-Oriented Communities (TOCs) to provide increased certainty of parkland requirements:
-For sites less than or equal to five hectares, parkland would be dedicated up to 10% of the land or its value
-For sites greater than five hectares, parkland would be dedicated up to 15% of the land or its value
Encumbered parkland could be identified through an order by the Minister of Infrast
We are introducing More Homes for Everyone, that proposes targeted policies for the immediate term that make housing fairer for hard-working Ontarians and make it faster to build the homes that families need and deserve.
As part of More Homes for Everyone, Schedule 5 of Bill 109 proposes to make changes to the Planning Act.
The proposed amendments, if passed, would, among other matters:
-Require municipalities to gradually refund application fees to applicants who do not receive a decision on their zoning by-law amendment applications or site plan applications within the legislated timelines. This would apply to applications made on or after January 1, 2023
-Establish a new Community Infrastructure and Housing Accelerator (CIHA) tool for municipal requests to expedite zoning outside of the Greenbelt area
-The Minister shall issue guidelines governing the scope of how this authority may be used, and the guidelines would need to be in place before an order could be made
-Require decisions on site plan applications to be delegated to staff for applications made on or after July 1, 2022
-Extend site plan application review from 30 to 60 days
-Establish regulation-making authority to prescribe complete application requirements for site plan applications
-Establish regulation-making authority to prescribe what cannot be required as a condition of subdivision approval
-Establish a one-time discretionary authority to reinstate draft plans of subdivision that have lapsed within the past five years, subject to consumer protection provisions
-Establish regulation-making authority to require public reporting on development applications / approvals
-Require municipalities with a community benefits charge (CBC) by-law to undertake and complete a review, including consulting publicly, on their by-law at least once every five years
-Provide the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing with new discretionary authorities when making decisions to:
-"Stop the clock" if more time is needed to decide on all official plan matters subject to Minister's approval (with transition for matters that are currently before the Minister),
-Refer all or part(s) of an official plan matter to the Ontario Land Tribunal for a recommendation, and
-Forward all of an official plan matter to the Ontario Land Tribunal to make a decision
-Establish regulation-making authority to authorize landowners and applicants to stipulate the type of surety bonds and other prescribed instruments to be used to secure obligations in connection with land use planning approvals
-Implement a tiered alternative parkland dedication rate for Transit-Oriented Communities (TOCs) to provide increased certainty of parkland requirements:
-For sites less than or equal to five hectares, parkland would be dedicated up to 10% of the land or its value
-For sites greater than five hectares, parkland would be dedicated up to 15% of the land or its value
Encumbered parkland could be identified through an order by the Minister of Infrast
Contact Address:
PlanningConsultation@ontario.ca
Royal Assent Date:
April 14, 2022
Decision:
Approved