I am writing to express my…

I am writing to express my opposition to the changes to the Planning Act under Bill 98. These changes will set Ontario back in our efforts to fight climate change and increase home energy costs for Ontarians.

Significantly reducing our greenhouse gas emissions is essential to mitigating climate change and avoiding the impacts that will come with it. Ontario is already experiencing the impacts of climate change through events such as the 2023 and 2025 wildfire seasons and the three 1-in-100-year floods that Toronto has experienced since 2013. The frequency and intensity of events like these are projected to increase under increased warming and illustrate the importance of taking decisive action to mitigate climate change.

Addressing how we construct buildings is essential for both climate mitigation and adaptation efforts. According to the National Inventory Report 1990-2023, emissions from commercial and residential buildings make up nearly one-fifth of Ontario’s 2023 greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing emissions from buildings through improved building envelopes, the use of renewable electricity, and the use of materials with low embodied emissions is a vital part of meeting our emissions targets. Furthermore, as we experience the continued impacts of climate change, it is important to ensure that our building stock helps protect people from the impacts of extreme heat and flooding.

Green development standards are an effective way to ensure that the buildings making up our communities are low-emission. It is cheaper and easier to incorporate energy efficiency into new builds than to retrofit existing stock. Furthermore, green development standards ensure that new buildings are low-emission from the get-go without there being a period of high emissions before any renovations.

Voluntary measures are not enough. Mandatory green development standards ensure that a larger share of new builds are built in a way that limits emissions and are ready to handle a changing climate. Limiting green development standards to voluntary measures only means that fewer developers will implement them and will limit emissions reductions.

Removing mandatory green development standards will increase utility costs for homeowners. Green buildings have lower operating costs due to using energy more efficiently. If municipalities are forced to remove mandatory green development standards, then fewer homes will be built to energy-efficient standards and homeowners will not benefit from reduced utility costs. If homeowners do want to lower their utility costs, then they will be required to undertake potentially costly retrofits that could have been avoided if the building was built to green development standards in the first place.

I also take issue with the proposed changes to the Planning Act to remove the requirement for official plans to include goals, objectives, and actions to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and to provide for climate adaptation de-emphasizes the importance of integrating climate action into broad municipal plans. Every aspect of how our communities are built and how they function is connected to climate change, whether by affecting greenhouse gas emissions or responding to climate impacts. Requiring official plans to address climate change ensures that climate action is integrated throughout the municipal planning process and strengthens climate action efforts.

The changes proposed conflict with existing provincial climate goals. One of the actions laid out in the Made-in-Ontario Environmental Plan is to “empower effective local leadership on climate change”. The proposed changes do the exact opposite – they take away local leadership on climate change.

Finally, the conclusion that these legislative changes will be “environmentally neutral” is an insult. These changes damage efforts towards fighting climate change and take away municipalities’ tools for lowering their emissions. These changes will make it more difficult for municipalities to meet their climate change goals and will limit needed emissions reductions. That is not environmentally neutral – that is a clear negative impact on our environment.

I am disappointed in this government for failing to recognize the importance of responding to the climate crisis and in its continued efforts to take away municipalities’ tools for fighting climate change.