On October 7, 2021, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH) announced two proposed legislative changes that will affect land use planning processes and costs in Ontario. The first is an amendment to the Planning Act that would allow the council of a local municipality to delegate decision-making authority for “minor” Planning Act decisions to a committee, officer, employee or agent of the municipality. The second is an amendment to the Development Charges Act that would extend the planned 10-year level of service, and corresponding charges, for the Yonge North Subway Extension (YNSE) to 20 years.

Additional delegation of planning decisions

Bulletin: Proposed Additional Delegation of Planning Decisions

Bill 13, Supporting People and Businesses Act, 2021, was introduced to the legislature on October 7, 2021, and proposes to amend a variety of Acts, including the Planning Act. In particular, the addition of section 39.2 to the Planning Act would permit the council of a local municipality to delegate the authority to pass by-laws under section 34 of the Planning Act, that are minor in nature, to a municipal committee, officer, employee or agent. This authority is currently held exclusively by the local Council.

Section 34 establishes a local municipality’s ability to implement and amend zoning by-laws, and the change will potentially extend to zoning by-laws, by-laws to remove a holding symbol, and temporary use by-laws, depending on if they are “of a minor nature”. Subsection (2) further specifies that in order for this delegation to occur, a municipality must first implement Official Plan policies that specify the type of by-laws subject to delegation. Subsection (4) says that delegation may also be subject to conditions, as set out by the Council. Finally, Council may withdraw this authority at any time through a by-law (including in anticipation of a by-law for which a final decision has not yet been made). Corresponding amendments would also be made to the Municipal Act and the City of Toronto Act to properly implement these changes.

The proposed amendment is intended to streamline the planning process for routine applications, and shift some of the burden of making decisions under the Planning Act from elected officials to municipal staff and matter-specific committees. In addition, applicants may be able to avoid delays in Council meeting and reporting cycles, particularly in the summer months. The delegation of Site Plan approval to staff in a similar fashion has proven very effective at avoiding this type of unnecessary delay. Municipalities will have the ability to opt in or opt out of this program through enabling Official Plan policies. The decision to delegate this authority may be made with regard for time-savings, implementation costs, frequency of use and the suitability of alternative decision-making bodies.

Section 34 applications would continue to have the same notice, public meeting and appeal requirements, and would still need to be consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement and not in conflict with Provincial Plans.

MMAH anticipates that “most medium to large municipalities” will “likely” implement some form of delegation. MMAH is accepting additional comments on the proposal until November 21, 2021.

The amendments proposed by Bill 13 can be accessed here.

Extension of the planned level of service for the Yonge North Subway Extension (YNSE)

Bulletin: Amendment to the Development Charges Act, 1997 to extend the 10-year planned level of service to 20 years for the Yonge North Subway Extension (YNSE)

The proposed amendment to the Development Charges Act affects future development charges (DCs) in York Region. York Region is responsible for approximately CA$1.1billion of the costs to be incurred by the planned Yonge North Subway Extension (the rest being split between the Provincial and Federal Governments). The province has committed to providing the Region with flexible and sustainable alternatives to raise these funds.

Currently, the Development Charges Act allows municipalities to calculate and recover development charges for transit projects based on a 10-year planned level of service. The proposed amendment would make a project-specific exception to this rule for the YNSE, and allow its costs to be treated separately from other transit services. York Region is scheduled to renew its Development Charges by-law by 2022. The proposed changes to the Development Charges Act could be applied at that time, and allow the Region to recover a greater share of its YNSE funds moving forward.

MMAH is accepting comments on the proposal until November 21, 2021.

A special thank you to Leighton Zink, Land Use Planner, in our Toronto office, for his assistance in co-authoring this article.