Ontario Cuts Red Tape in Effort to Get Housing Built
This afternoon, Hon. Paul Calandra, the Acting Minister of Red Tape Reduction (and also the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing), introduced the Ford government’s 13th Red Tape Reduction package. While the package is diverse overall, the key elements all relate to housing construction and working to get more homes built faster, as the Province works with municipalities to remove the barriers to building 1.5 million new homes built by 2031.
Today’s announcement comes in place of a more formal update to the Housing Supply Action Plan. That said, this is a substantive package of changes and the launch of several consultations for the development community and municipalities, akin to the set of changes introduced in earlier iterations of the Housing Supply Action Plan that have dramatically reshaped the development landscape.
What’s in the Package?
The housing measures include 29 separate initiatives under four pillars.
The first pillar is Streamlining approvals to build more homes. Specific measures under this pillar include:
- Eliminating mandatory parking space minimums for buildings in Major Transit Station Areas;
- The previously announced move to allow mass timber buildings up to 18 storeys (the previous allowance was 12 storeys); and
- Removal of the Community Infrastructure and Housing Accelerator (CIHA) mechanism.
The CIHA mechanism was meant to supplement Minister’s Zoning Orders (MZOs), but had caused confusion due to some overlap. With CIHA’s removal, there is also the unveiling of a new and transparent framework for requesting an MZO, which will streamline this process and open it to greater public scrutiny.
The second pillar is Prioritizing infrastructure for projects ready-to-go. Specific measures under this pillar include:
- Outline of a “Use-It-or-Lose-It” framework on municipal development approvals, such as enhancing the ability to include lapsing provisions in approved plans of subdivision; and
- Enabling municipalities to better use their existing revenue tools to pay for development of housing-enabling infrastructure, such as eliminating mandatory5-year Development Charge Rate Phase-In and re-instating studies as a Development Charge Eligible Capital Cost.
The third pillar is Expanding consultation tools while scoping appeals to support housing. Specific measures under this pillar include:
- Limiting third-party appeals (through legislation) for Official Plans, Official Plan Amendments, Zoning By-Laws and Zoning By-Law Amendments;
- Modernizing public notice requirements (through regulation) to provide municipalities digital options to inform the public; and
- Restoring appeal rights for privately-initiated settlement area boundary expansions refusals or non-decisions outside of the Greenbelt.
The fourth pillar is Build homes faster for more people. Specific measures under this pillar include:
- Issuance of the long-awaited updated draft Provincial Planning Statement for consultation;
- Advancing the creation and use of standardized, pre-approved housing designs, in conjunction with the federal and BC governments;
- Proclaiming into force (on July 1, 2024) the removal of planning responsibilities from Durham Region, Halton Region, Niagara Region, Peel Region, Simcoe Region, Waterloo Region and York Region. Lower-tier municipalities in these regions will take over primary planning responsibilities;
- Exempting publicly-assisted universities from the Planning Act (putting them on a level footing with publicly-assisted colleges) to make development of on-campus and university-led student housing projects possible as of right; and
- Bringing into force (on June 1, 2024) the previously legislated municipal Development Charge exemptions and discounts for Affordable, Affordable Inclusionary Zoning and Attainable Housing Units, as well as publishing the Minister’s Bulletin for affordable housing.
What Does This Mean?
Today’s announcement is substantial and will have a significant impact on the development process in Ontario. According to the government, this package implements an additional nine recommendations from the Housing Affordability Task Force, which means that nearly two-thirds of the Task Force’s recommendations have now been acted on.
The Premier has taken some flack for not acting on one of the Task Force’s key recommendations, allowing fourplexes as of right on residential properties across Ontario, but the commitment to removing barriers to housing development and willingness to work with municipalities to build homes cannot be questioned. Bolstered by today’s red tape reduction package and coupled with the 2024Budget, it continues to be clear the government’s focus is building Ontario, with building housing and housing-enabling infrastructure being a priority. By all accounts, this is not the last major overhaul to help get more homes built in communities across Ontario.
As with some of the previous Housing Supply Action Plans, it will take some time for all stakeholders to digest these changes and to identify some of the unintended consequences that will need to be fixed.
In terms of next steps, today’s news is simply the first step. The red tape package includes legislation (which will need to go through the regular legislative process), regulations (which will be open to consultation periods) and the initiation of targeted consultations.
At Sussex, we are experts in navigating the intricate details of emerging policy to ensure your voice is heard and your impact is felt in shaping legislative and regulatory outcomes.
