In June 2019, the province introduced sweeping changes to the planning regime in Ontario through Bill 108. Among the legislative changes in Bill 108 were amendments to the Planning Act and Development Charges Act, 1997 (the “Development Charges Act”) that would replace existing municipal powers regarding parkland dedication, soft service development charges, and height and density bonuses in exchange for community benefits, with the authority to impose a single new CBC against development. However, those aspects of Bill 108 were not brought into force when it was enacted in June 2019, pending public consultation on the regulations required to implement critical aspects of the Bill 108 regime.
On February 28, 2020, the province released for public consultation a summary of its proposed regulations pertaining to Bill 108. In response to that consultation, instead of proceeding with the proposed regulations and bringing the relevant provisions of Bill 108 into force, the province introduced further amendments to the Planning Act and Development Charges Act in Bill 197, the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Act, 2020, which is an omnibus bill amending over 20 provincial statutes. Bill 197 received Royal Assent on July 21, 2020, and the changes relating to CBCs, parkland dedication and development charges were proclaimed in force on September 18, 2020.
As discussed in more detail below, Bill 197 rolls back many of the changes made in Bill 108 to parkland dedication and soft service development charges. In doing so, Bill 197 unbundles many of the contributions municipalities would have collected through a CBC. The result is that, under Bill 197, the CBC effectively replaces only the existing section 37 regime that allows municipalities to grant increases in height and density in exchange for community benefits provided by developers.
Bill 197 also contains amendments to other legislation that will have implications for land development in Ontario, such as the Environmental Assessment Act.
The following sections outline some of the key legislative changes reflected in Bill 197 in more detail.
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