Following changes to Greenbelt legislation in the fall, the Ontario Government announced another series of legislative reconsiderations yesterday impacting the municipal sector.
These announcements follow many months of the sector expressing its concerns about the need for ongoing open dialogue and consultation between provincial and municipal governments. Specifically, as an association, we have raised our concerns with recent legislative changes and their impacts to municipal finances, increased administrative and operational burdens for months. Yesterday’s announcements underlie the importance of municipal consultation with associations like ours before significant changes to legislation are made. It is expected that legislation will be introduced sometime in the new year to reflect yesterday's announcements.
We are also thinking about the municipal staff impacted by these decisions across the province, and in particular, those within the Region of Peel, who continue to demonstrate their dedication and professionalism in the face of so much uncertainty. Thank you for your commitment to serving your communities.
Region of Peel
Legislation will be introduced in the new year to recalibrate the mandate of the transition board, originally appointed through the Hazel McCallion Act, 2023, to look at how to improve and optimize services to build more housing in the Region of Peel. The rationale provided is that “full dissolution” is not in the best interest of ratepayers and would potentially impact the Province’s goal of building homes.
In response to reporters' questions, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Paul Calandra, said that the Region of Peel would have an elected council going into the 2026 municipal elections. The Minister also suggested that the lessons learned from the review of Peel could apply to other regional governments.
However, it remains to be seen what actions the Province takes with Peel. The language used yesterday suggests that outcomes of the transitions board’s new mandate may determine whether different service or structural arrangements come to fruition (at least in Peel). In addition, the Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure and Cultural Policy continues its review of other regions and the County of Simcoe.
Minister Zoning Orders (MZOs)
In addition to the Region of Peel reversal, the Minister also announced that he would be revoking or amending several MZOs as part of the government’s approach to “using or losing it” including revoking or amending eight MZOs that are not related to housing. An additional 14 MZOs will have enhanced monitoring to determine whether they should be amended or revoked. Further, the Minister announced that he would be launching a consultation on how to review and approve future MZO requests to increase transparency.
Bill 23, More Homes, Built Faster Act
An additional measure announced yesterday was made in response to consultations with stakeholders including municipalities and associations. The Minister will be reviewing the impacts of the More Homes, Built Faster Act, 2022, which exempted or discounted development charges on affordable housing, “attainable” housing, not-for-profit housing, inclusionary zoning units, and rental units.
The Minister did commit to keeping exemptions for not-for-profit and purpose-built rentals as part of its housing strategy. Consultations on the definition of attainable will continue in the coming months but the Minister indicated that for now, these exemptions will only apply to modular homes on demonstration sites such as surplus government lands to incentivize the building of these types of homes.
Additional consultations with municipalities will take place on development-related charges including:
- Phasing in development charge rates over five years for those development charge bylaws passed as of January 1, 2022
- The removal of development charge background studies as an eligible capital cost
- The planning application fee refund framework
Municipal Third-Party Audits
The Province is also cancelling the third-party audits announced in May of this year. The consultation on the impacts of the More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022, will replace these audits.
We will continue to keep you, our members, informed of updates on these and other impactful legislative changes. As an Association, we are committed to working with the government to provide our members' operational knowledge, advice, and expertise.
For further details on these announcements, please see the Province’s news release.
For more information or questions about AMCTO advocacy work, please contact us.