New Ontario Land Tribunal Brings Together Five Tribunals Under One Roof

  • 27 juillet 2021
  • Fiona McGuinty, Jonathan Cheng, Stikeman Elliott

As of June 1, 2021, matters and appeals related to various land and environmental matters in Ontario will be heard under one administrative tribunal. The Local Planning Appeal Tribunal, the Environmental Review Tribunal, the Board of Negotiation, the Conservation Review Board, and the Mining and Lands Tribunal have been amalgamated into the Ontario Land Tribunal (the “OLT”).

Matters previously heard at one of the predecessor tribunals have already or will continue to be heard at the OLT. Accordingly, the OLT now has the exclusive jurisdiction to hear matters and appeals falling under the purview of the five predecessor tribunals. These include matters and appeals relating to land use planning, environmental and natural features and heritage protection, land valuation, land compensation, and municipal finance.

Established under the authority of section 2 of the Ontario Land Tribunal Act, 2021[1] (the “OLT Act”), the OLT hears and decides appeals pertaining to a variety of provincial statutes, including the Planning Act, the Expropriations Act, the Clean Water Act, the Environmental Assessment Act, the Municipal Act, and the Ontario Water Resources Act, among others.

As of the date of this article, the OLT’s accountability documents, such as its mandate, mission and values, have not yet been published.