In April 2024, Dentons brought you Continuing to cut through the red tape – Ontario’s Bill 185: Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act, 2024, which outlined the key changes to municipal, land use planning and development law proposed by Bill 185.

As set out in our last update, Bill 185 was introduced with a focus on streamlining approvals and increasing housing and infrastructure development, in line with the Ontario government’s goal of building at least 1.5 million homes in the province by 2031.

Following its introduction on April 10, 2024, Bill 185 underwent some key changes during a period of review and comment, and is now in force, following Royal Assent on June 6, 2024. The changes to Bill 185 stemming from this period of review and comment are linked here for ease of reference.

This update will highlight the key changes to Bill 185 since its introduction and our initial overview, which relate to the Planning Act and the Development Charges Act.

1. Third-party appeal rights

As set out in our original update, Bill 185 proposed to limit third-party appeal rights for official plans, official plan amendments, zoning by-laws and zoning by-law amendments to applicants, public bodies (e.g., municipalities, First Nations) and specified persons, including select companies that operate electric and natural gas utilities, railways and telecommunications infrastructure. In addition, third-party appeals filed before Bill 185 came into force would be dismissed unless: (i) a hearing on the merits had been scheduled before April 10, 2024; or (ii) an exempt person or public body filed a notice of appeal in respect of the same decision.

While the final and now in-force version of Bill 185 continues to prohibit most third-party appeals, a few changes were made which impact third-party appeals and expand the list of parties that can make them.

1. Expanded rights of appeal

The final version of Bill 185 restored certain appeal rights that the original version of the Bill sought to eliminate. In addition to public bodies and “specified persons” noted in the original version of Bill 185, registered landowners now maintain the right to appeal in relation to official plans and zoning by-laws that apply to their land, if the landowner made oral submissions at a public meeting or written submissions to the municipality prior to the municipality adopting the relevant official plan or zoning by-law.

However, it remains the case that existing “third-party” appeals (i.e. not by registered landowners) filed prior to the legislation coming into force will be dismissed, unless a hearing on the merits was scheduled prior to April 10, 2024, or a notice of appeal was filed by an exempt person or public body in respect of the same decision to which the appeal relates. In contrast, the recent updates allow existing appeals from “second parties” (i.e., registered landowners) to remain without being retroactively dismissed.

Importantly, the Ontario Land Tribunal Act and Ontario Land Tribunal Rules remain unchanged by Bill 185. As a result, third parties can still seek party status in existing Ontario Land Tribunal proceedings.

2. Expanded definitions

The final version of Bill 185 also expanded appeal rights by modifying the definitions of “public body” and “specified person.” The definition of “public body” has been expanded to include “a hospital as defined in section 1 of the Public Hospitals Act.” In addition, the definition of “specified person” has been now expanded to also include the following:

1. NAV Canada;
2. The owner or operator of an airport, if a zoning regulation has been made with respect to adjacent lands or in the vicinity of the airport, and if any part of those lands are within the area to which the relevant planning matter would apply;
3. A licensee a licensee or permittee in respect of a site, as those terms are defined in subsection 1 (1) of the Aggregate Resources Act, if any part of the site is within 300 metres of any part of the area to which the relevant planning matter would apply;
4. The holder of an environmental compliance approval to engage in an activity mentioned in subsection 9 (1) of the Environmental Protection Act if any of the lands on which the activity is undertaken are within an area of employment and are within 300 metres of any part of the area to which the relevant planning matter would apply, but only if the holder of the approval intends to appeal the relevant decision or conditions, as the case may be, on the basis of inconsistency with land use compatibility policies in any policy statements issued under section 3 of this Act;
5. A person who has registered an activity on the Environmental Activity and Sector Registry that would, but for being prescribed for the purposes of subsection 20.21 (1) of the Environmental Protection Act, require an environmental compliance approval in accordance with subsection 9 (1) of that Act if any of the lands on which the activity is undertaken are within an area of employment and are within 300 metres of any part of the area to which the relevant planning matter would apply, but only if the person intends to appeal the relevant decision or conditions, as the case may be, on the basis of inconsistency with land use compatibility policies in any policy statements issued under section 3 of this Act, or
6. The owner of any land described in items iii), iv), and v) above.

With these expanded definitions, the newly added parties form part of the short list of third parties that have a right to appeal following the implementation of Bill 185.

2. Development charges

Additionally, Bill 185 was amended to include a new rule regarding the application of section 26.2 of the Development Charges Act, 1997 to the City of Ottawa. Section 26.2 relates to the time at which the total amount of a development charge is determined. Following this change, if a development approval application for a property in a site plan control area is made to the City of Ottawa between May 14, 2024, and the date 15 days after Royal Assent (June 6, 2024), the application shall be deemed to have been made on the date that is 16 days after Royal Assent (June 6, 2024).

Should you have any questions about Bill 185 or any past legislative or policy changes related to housing, land use and infrastructure changes, please contact, Katarzyna Sliwa, Roberto Aburto, Isaiah Banach, Karen Sadler, Michael James, or any member of the Dentons Municipal, Land Use Planning and Development Team.

For other information relating to the many previous policy and legislative changes regarding land use planning and development, please see our past insights here:

• April showers bring more changes to Ontario’s land use planning framework – Deep dive on Ontario’s proposed Provincial Planning Statement, 2024

• Planning Statute Law Amendment Act, 2023: Out with the new and in with the old

• Shovels in the ground for Ontario - The Province announces the More Homes Built Faster Act to address the “housing crisis”

• Part 2: Shovels in the ground for Ontario - The Province announces the More Homes Built Faster Act to address the housing crisis

• Part 3: Shovels in the ground for Ontario – Bill 23 receives Royal Assent, the Province announces the Better Municipal Governance Act, 2022,and the Stronger Mayors, Building Homes Act comes into force