Thank you for the…

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the proposed changes to the 2014 Provincial Policy Statement (PPS) released on July 22, 2019. The following comments are provided on behalf of the Council of the Town of Midland who considered the proposed 2019 PPS changes at its October 16th regular meeting.

1. The Town generally supports the proposed changes to the 2014 PPS as representing reasonable and prudent refinements to a robust planning framework that is based on sound planning approaches and planning principles.

2. The Province has focused many of its recent changes to the Ontario Planning system (e.g. Planning Act, Growth Plan, etc.) based on the assumption that a restricted land supply is the cause or a significant contributing factor to housing affordability and housing supply issues. If this is the basis for the proposed changes, the Province should go further to provide municipalities more flexibility and responsibility to help address land supply restrictions. First, the Province should increase the permitted planning horizon from 25 years to 30 years. Second, the Province should increase the housing land supply to 15 or 20 years rather than the proposed 12 year time frame. And third, the Province should increase the minimum requirements for serviced residential lands to 10 years from the 5 years proposed. The Planning system in Ontario is rigorous, requires significant technical reviews and inputs, requires extensive community engagement and consultation, and has long time frames. The time and costs of undertaking planning exercises such as OP reviews, secondary plan studies, infrastructure master plans and the full suite of community growth management programs demand longer periods of time for implementation and between update and review processes. The PPS needs to recognize and acknowledge this reality.

3. The proposal to require “market-based” approaches to a number of policy areas in the 2019 PPS without defining the term is significantly problematic to the Town. Leaving the term undefined in the proposed PPS runs significant risk to the strong policy lead growth management planning system defined in the current and proposed PPS and in the 2019 Growth Plan. The Province should either remove the term and use the current language of the 2014 PPS or define the term “market-based” as used in sections 1.1.1 b), 1.1.3.8 and others.

4. The proposed revisions to the PPS move the obligations for engaging and cooperating with Indigenous and First Nation communities from the 2014 PPS “encourage” framework to a 2019 PPS “shall” framework. While Midland has been meeting its obligations under the 2014 PPS in a very active manner, the change proposed to the 2019 PPS framework would create uncertainty around what level of work and effort would meet the mandatory requirements of the proposed PPS and what level of costs would be likely be involved in meeting these new obligations. The Province is therefore requested to accompany these proposed changes to the PPS with the development of a detailed guideline on municipal-Indigenous relations and First Nation engagement and consultation and the provision of capacity building funding to both municipalities and to Indigenous communities and First Nations as we both continue the process of reconciliation and relationship building. The Province needs to remember that the obligations are the “Duty of the Crown” and while Midland is committed to this new relationship, where the Province delegates the process and procedural requirements of this duty, the legal and financial requirements remain with it.

5. The Province has proposed no changes to the natural hazard policies at this time but notes that further changes may come out of the review by the Province’s appointed Special Advisor on Flooding. The Province is therefore requested that any changes proposed to the Planning system in Ontario (Act, regulations, PPS, or Plans) by the Special Advisor on Flooding should be the subject of a full and robust consultation process prior to implementation.

6. The proposed changes to the PPS increase the obligations and requirements on municipalities to incorporate climate change, resilience and adaption policies in all elements and tools of its local planning and development approvals program. While supported as an absolute necessity, this is a new area for most municipalities and could result in significant costs in researching and implementing a range of climate adaptation actions. The Province should be encouraged to develop and release a full Guideline and Best Practices manual so that all municipalities across Ontario are taking a consistent approach and are not undertaking the identical and expensive research in meeting these obligations. This should be a priority for the Province as part of its ‘Made in Ontario Environment Plan’.

7. The Province has proposed a policy obligation in the revised PPS for municipalities to identify priority applications and a process for fast tracking those applications to speed up the delivery of housing and job-related growth and development. The Province should be requested to develop a “toolbox” for municipalities to consider in developing its fast track processes. Further, while it is laudable to encourage and require municipalities to develop a fast track system, they are but one actor in the planning and approval process in Ontario and in many instances re not the actor causing delays. The Province should be requested to change the provisions of Section 4.7 of the revised PPS to obligate all legislated stakeholders in the process (e.g. ministries and agencies) to participate in the development of fast track processes and make binding commitments to meet the defined time frames and requirements of those fast track processes.