RE: ERO #025-0463 Proposed…

RE: ERO #025-0463 Proposed Regulation– As-of-right Variations from Setback Requirements

Dear Minister Flack,

On behalf of the Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA), we would like to thank you for your efforts to eliminate barriers to housing development by granting the Minister the ability to permit variation to a zoning by-law to be “as-of-right” if a proposal is within a prescribed percentage of the required setback on specified lands.

Ontario’s nearly 100,000 REALTORS® are pleased to see this step towards zoning harmonization on setbacks, an important change that will cut red tape that delays vital housing construction. Ontario’s housing construction industry is entangled in regulatory burdens that have emerged from misalignments between provincial and municipal construction guidelines. Inconsistencies between Ontario’s Building Code and municipal standards make it harder for developers to obtain building approvals, work between different jurisdictions, and deliver new housing starts.

As part of our Building Faster, Building Stronger 2025 report, OREA highlighted the regulatory burdens created by unaligned building standards, as is the case with setback requirements. Each municipality interprets the Ontario Building Code differently, and so architects must start from scratch each time they build a home in a new jurisdiction. Within municipalities, inconsistent construction guidelines around setbacks stall housing development. Toronto uses vastly different requirements for setbacks on detached houses across the city, measuring some setbacks by metre and others by percentage of yard frontage. These complicated setback requirements make it unduly difficult to build the homes that Ontario needs.

As such, OREA commends Schedule 7 of Bill 17 as pro-housing legislation that will make it easier for developers to meet municipal and provincial standards for setback requirements. Schedule 7 proposes to measure all setbacks with the same percentage-based standard, ensuring that developers have consistent guidelines no matter where they work. Municipalities may also expand on the legislation to add more criteria as necessary. By allowing municipalities to tailor their zoning bylaws to the provincial legislation, Ontario builds an additional pathway for municipalities to harmonize their building codes with those of the province.

OREA strongly encourages Ontario to continue to reduce the red tape and regulatory burdens that have grown in the gaps between municipal and provincial building codes. By adding more flexibility to the “as-of-right” municipal standards for setbacks, Ontario addresses the building delays that this red tape has caused and takes steps towards long-term harmonization. The province must take on the task of further harmonizing municipal and provincial construction standards as an ongoing project.

To amplify the impact of this legislation, OREA has further recommendations for the Ontario government. In Building More, Building Faster, we discussed the value of reviewing municipal bylaws to ensure they are harmonized with the Ontario Building Code. Setback requirements are just one of many construction issues that are disrupted by regulatory red tape, and Ontario would benefit by investigating similarly inconsistent standards at the municipal level, such as zoning designation for factory-built homes. Some bylaws incorrectly designate these homes as mobile homes, which requires developers to undertake further approvals before they can begin building. OREA recommends that the province harmonize inconsistencies like these with the provincial Building Code to promote housing starts across Ontario.

Ontario REALTORS® thank you for your initiative on this important file and encourage you to pursue further harmonization with municipalities. OREA appreciates the opportunity to comment on this proposal and to support a more flexible and harmonized building code system.

Submitted on behalf of the Ontario Real Estate Association

15 Kern Road, Toronto, ON M3B 1S5 · www.orea.com