Thank you for the…

Thank you for the opportunity to review and comment on the Environmental Registry of Ontario (“ERO”) posting 019-6813 regarding the review of proposed policies adapted from A Place to Grow and Provincial Policy Statement to form a new provincial planning policy (proposed PPS, 2023) instrument.

Please note that the following comments and recommendations are provided by City of Mississauga staff and have been endorsed by City Council on its May 3, 2023 meeting. The City Council endorsed Corporate Report and Appendix is linked below.

The following contains a summary of the City of Mississauga's comments on the ERO 019-6813. In addition, a detailed comment table is attached to this submission.

INTRODUCTION

The City of Mississauga supports efforts to increase housing supply. The City recognizes that solving the housing affordability crisis will take significant effort, bold moves from all those involved in housing approval and development, and innovative approaches to planning and construction.

However, measures to expedite housing supply should balance different planning priorities. The Province should not implement measures that would generate short-term benefits while creating long-term negative impacts on the natural environment, agricultural systems, infrastructure and transit delivery, economic prosperity, and the creation of complete communities.

While staff want to see the creation of more housing in the GGH, it is important that new developments do not undermine access to services and jobs near where residents live, and that major cost savings can be achieved by coordinating growth and infrastructure delivery.

Staff are most concerned with proposed changes to the GGH’s employment planning regime. Mississauga has some of the most economically important employment lands in Canada and the operations of some of these areas could be significantly impacted. Staff suggest the current approach where employment lands can be considered for re-designation through the Municipal Comprehensive Review process worked well.

Through the City’s Action Plan for New Housing, Mississauga has demonstrated it has approvals in place or endorsed by Council to support 246,000 new units (more than double Mississauga’s 120,000 unit housing target set by the Province). The Regional Planning Commissioners of Ontario (RPCO) also reported that approvals are also in place for 1.25M units (almost reaching the Province’s target of 1.5M homes). Against this backdrop, it is unclear how the Province can justify releasing more lands to support residential development that are so important for local employment opportunities, the economy and our natural environment.

PROPOSED PROVINCIAL POLICY STATEMENT, 2023

Since 2006, the Growth Plan helped to manage growth in the GGH by laying out an urban structure that aligned growth with infrastructure investments, promoted complete communities, a range and mix of housing forms, and protected lands for natural heritage, prime agriculture and employment. The PPS augmented the Growth Plan with broader based policy directions, again promoting a well-managed and balanced approach to growth province-wide. The proposed PPS, 2023, seems to be based on two assumptions. First, that there needs to be more residential land designated to meet growth targets. And second, an individual development application based approach to employment land-use changes is preferable to the current comprehensive review approach.

Staff disagree with both of these points and suggest the Province may not fully grasp the land economic implications of the proposed changes. Specifically, the changes could lead to an immediate spike in the land values in employment areas with prospective purchasers speculating on what higher financial return uses (e.g. residential) could possibly be considered on the sites. This land value uplift makes it more expensive for potential new businesses developing as-of-right uses to locate in the areas, thereby hurting overall economic growth.

Staff need greater clarification from the Province on many of the policies in the proposed PPS, 2023, to more fully understand how these changes will impact the city going forward. However, staff are concerned there could be significant impacts on the city’s residential to non-residential assessment and population to employment ratios. It could impact the types of uses that could go into our employment areas, the commercial buffers that separate heavy industry from residential areas and the ability to maintain commercial uses in communities.

Key changes are discussed below, and a detailed list of changes and comments is included in the attached table.

MUNICIPAL COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW (MCR)

The PPS would no longer require MCRs for periodic updates that are required for the Official Plans of upper-tier, lower-tier or single-tier municipalities.

• City staff recommend the Province to maintain MCR requirements for evaluating settlement area expansions and the removal of lands from employment areas. These processes allow for a more comprehensive analysis that can lead to better planning outcomes.

• City staff recommend the Province to keep the existing approach for the review of requests to remove lands from employment areas where they are considered through a comprehensive review at 5-10 year intervals, unless municipally initiated. The MCR approach allows for a holistic approach to employment planning. Keeping the MCR framework would help avoid unintended consequences to the continued economic viability of employment uses, including commercial and industry sectors.

EMPLOYMENT

Changes to permitted uses in employment areas

Employment areas provide land for diverse employment uses to meet current and future needs, and do not permit residential development. In both Bill 97 and the proposed PPS, 2023, the Province is proposing to change how employment areas are defined by narrowing the list of uses in an employment area and removing commercial uses such as office and retail.

The Province proposes a clause in Bill 97 that may preserve existing clusters of business and economic uses in employment areas, but the drafting of this provision is unclear as to whether existing Official Plan policies will suffice or whether municipalities would need to introduce amendments to their Official Plans to keep existing office and retail buildings in employment areas.

Proposals to remove lands designated for commercial uses, could create major issues for retaining and attracting new businesses. For example, office users tend to prefer to cluster next to other offices. The introduction of certain industrial uses (e.g. metal clad building, with 100 dock doors, noise and odour emissions and outdoor storage) in a prestige office node could de-value existing offices. Staff are supportive of certain flexible options in office nodes and are in the process of expanding more life science permissions to office areas. The key point is the existing system worked well as municipalities could tailor the mix of employment uses permitted in each employment area based on the local context.

Commercial lands also provide access to services and amenities that support the wider employment area – e.g. restaurants, print shops, banks, courier services, etc. The proposed policies do not account for the important role that office and retail play within employment areas. Moreover, where there are commercial uses along the edges of employment lands, they create an important buffer between heavier employment uses such as manufacturing, and nearby residential communities. Through engagement with industrial users, staff have heard how important that buffer function can be to their future success in Mississauga. Allowing sensitive land uses such as residential within these buffers could slowly erode employment areas and surrounding industrial operations and compromise their viability.

• Bill 97 and the new PPS should continue to provide municipalities the option of designating for office and retail uses in employment areas.

• City staff recommend that the Province conduct more in-depth analysis and consultation before approving changes to employment policies. The Province’s proposed modifications to how municipalities plan for employment may have long-term, unintended consequences. While the pandemic has resulted in hybrid work arrangements for many places of employment that may continue to evolve, more analysis, data and public input are needed to identify long-term trends, and minimize any unintended risks to the future of Mississauga’s economy.

• At a minimum, the PPS should explicitly allow for commercial uses (e.g. office, retail) in employment areas when they are located in the middle of an employment area, where other PPS policies do not permit sensitive land uses (e.g. adjacent to the Airport), or where they provide an important buffer function to nearby residential communities.

Proposed changes may impact the economic viability of key commercial uses

The pandemic has undoubtedly had a major impact on the office and retail market, however it is too early to understand how these impacts will play out over the long term. Proposed PPS, 2023, could have long term impacts on land economics that will be difficult to reverse.

Specifically, an employment area designation helps to moderate land values, which can make investments in office and retail uses attractive. The City has found that when land is removed from an employment area and opened for residential development, land values can increase in the order of 5 to 7 times. This increase in land value makes it difficult for office uses to compete.
Mississauga’s tax base relies heavily on commercial uses and it will important that these businesses continue to find lands in Mississauga that meet their requirements.

• Staff will need guidance from the Province on where it considers future offices and retail uses should be built. It seems the long-term land economic and business attraction implications have not been thought out.

Outside of employment areas, retail and office protections are also being reduced

The Province is also proposing to make it easier to convert or redevelop lands with commercial buildings outside employment areas to residential uses. In Mississauga many commercial plazas, malls and aging office buildings are already facing significant redevelopment pressures. These commercial buildings however, are critical to meeting daily needs of residents, providing nearby amenities, services and local employment. Without these sorts of uses, it will be hard for Mississauga to create complete communities.

• City staff recommend that PPS, 2023 direct municipalities to plan for complete communities, and retain non-residential floor space on these sites as part of any future redevelopment wherever possible.

• The PPS should clarify the Province’s intent for employment lands outside of employment areas. The policies should distinguish between primary and secondary uses for these lands. The City relies on employment lands as part of its economic development strategy, and it is important that the primary use continue to be protected for employment to ensure a balanced mix of jobs and residents in Mississauga. Having this distinction would still allow for PPS policies that require municipalities to permit a mix of secondary uses on those lands, including residential.

• In order to support the creation of complete communities, the PPS should clarify that when redevelopment of existing commercial buildings occurs, commercial and office GFA should be replaced, wherever possible. The loss of these uses would reduce the range of amenities and services that residents enjoy in their community, and eliminate jobs near where they live.

More guidance needed for navigating compatibility issues

Staff are also seeking more clarification on how to decide when a sensitive land use should be permitted near industrial operators. Proposed PPS, 2023, may result in more conflicts between sensitive land uses and industrial operations. For example, the proposed changes may make it easier for a sensitive land use to be permitted in proximity to major facilities.

• City staff will be looking to the Province to clarify its priorities for employment areas, as it appears that residential uses should be prioritized.

• The Province should consult further with industry leaders that could be significantly impacted by proposed changes.

• The proposed PPS, 2023 policies on employment areas and land use compatibility should be strengthened to ensure an appropriate separation and transition between heavier employment uses and sensitive land uses is achieved. These policies are important to the continued survival of industry in Mississauga’s employment areas.

Amendments to employment areas can now be made at any time

Currently, requests to remove lands from employment areas can only be made through the Municipal Comprehensive Review process that occurs every 5 to 10 years. The current approach allows for consideration of the supply of land to meet employment growth targets. Proposed PPS, 2023, appears to change this requirement and allow requests for lands to be converted at anytime.

This could place a significant burden on planning staff and Council who may be drawn into many conflicts and appeals. Staff are looking to the Province for more clarification on how amendments to employment areas can be made and/or subsequent appeal processes.

• The Province maintain the existing approach that conversions only be considered through a comprehensive approach at 5-10 year intervals, unless municipally initiated.

• The proposed PPS, 2023 definition for employment areas should align with the Planning Act definition. The Planning Act includes a broader definition and references prescribed businesses.

GROWTH MANAGEMENT

Approved growth forecasts to be used for infrastructure planning

For Mississauga, the Province has clarified that the City can continue to use its recently approved population (e.g. 995,000 people at 2051) and employment forecasts. These were the forecasts contained in the Region of Peel Official Plan, approved in November 2022. The growth forecasts were updated following a detailed review of all applications in the pipeline (including preliminary applications), a review of market trends and absorption rates, and demographic information. In order to support Provincial Housing targets, City and Regional staff will work together to identify areas where infrastructure investments could be prioritized to open up new housing opportunities.

• City staff support the Province allowing Peel Region municipalities to keep using the approved growth forecast to 2051 as this forecast has already being used for infrastructure and community facilities master planning.

• City staff recommend the Province to carry forward essential policies that allow growth to be tied to the efficient use of existing and planned infrastructure, while providing protections to the Province’s delicate natural environment and minimising impacts on valuable resources. The proposed PPS should carry forward policies requiring the majority of growth to be directed to existing urban areas, minimum intensification targets, minimum greenfield development density target and the tests to justify settlement boundary expansions (as per the section below).

Settlement Area Expansions

The proposed changes may have significant impacts on the Region’s responsibilities to deliver infrastructure to newly expanded areas that are in part paid for by Mississauga taxpayers. Currently, growth forecasts limit the amount of land that can be released at the Regional level, and when coupled with the intensification target, they ensure that a significant portion of growth is directed to existing urban areas (e.g. the Region has an intensification target of 50% of total growth to occur within the existing built up area). The proposed changes would give municipalities more flexibility on how much land can be released for development.

With the proposed removal of the MCR process, lands would be able to be released for development at any time.

Furthermore, the need for expedited servicing, including major water, wastewater and transportation, to new growth areas at the fringes of the Region of Peel may divert the delivery of needed infrastructure in Mississauga’s strategic growth areas (including MTSAs), which may compromise the City’s ability to meet it’s housing plan targets.

• City staff recommend the Province carry forward the criteria in the Growth Plan (section 2.2.8) for settlement area boundary expansions with a continued emphasis on directing most of the growth to existing urban areas through intensification and meeting minimum density targets in urban growth centres, MTSAs and greenfield areas. Any review of a settlement boundary expansion should be part of an Official Plan review or update. Individual landowner requests should be properly evaluated based on comprehensive study and as part of municipal-wide planning processes.

• The Province is urged to retain policies requiring municipalities to develop intensification strategies, focus growth on intensification and strategic growth areas, establish a minimum intensification target, and ensure new development in designated growth areas occur adjacent to existing built up areas.

Greenfield lands can be released more easily and no density targets to be applied

The Growth Plan had many interrelated policy tools to manage growth in greenfields. More specifically:
- Growth forecasts worked to limit the amount of greenfield land that could be released at the regional level (e.g. land could not be released in excess of forecasted growth).
- The intensification target ensured that a significant portion of that growth was directed to existing urban areas (e.g. the intensification target required 50% of growth to be directed to urbanized parts of the GGH).
- A greenfield density target (e.g. 50 people and jobs per hectare) was developed to ensure new growth would be transit supportive.
- In addition, new lands could only be released for urban development under a Municipal Comprehensive Review (MCR).

The Province proposes to remove these policy mechanisms. The collective impact of not releasing mandated growth forecasts, allowing growth targets to be minimums, eliminating intensification targets and permitting settlement boundary expansions at any time means that there are few constraints on how much land can be released. Having no greenfield density targets will increase the challenge of providing transit to new communities, compounding regional congestion.

Less dense development in Peel’s greenfield areas could be more costly to service for Mississauga tax payers; it could also put more growth pressure on Peel’s infrastructure budget if other regions open up more greenfield land, lowering growth in Peel.

• City staff urge the Province to carry forward the Growth Plan's essential policies to manage urban expansions and growth in greenfield to ensure these areas are developed as compact and complete communities and support a range of transportation options.

• City staff recommend the Province to retain requirements for a minimum greenfield density target in order to facilitate the development of compact, transit-supportive communities with a mix of housing choices; while avoiding the need to develop on natural areas and prime agricultural land. More compact greenfield developments can facilitate the building of 1.5 million homes by 2031 without the need for costly expansions of infrastructure to service new areas outside developed urban areas. This would also reduce transportation related greenhouse gas emissions by lowering the need for long commutes.

Large and fast-growing municipalities

• City staff are neutral about these proposed policies as the City’s Official Plan has been amended to include the MTSAs policy framework and is in the process of updating SGA policies as part of the broader Official Plan Review process.

Major Transit Station Areas (MTSA) policies carried forward

Proposed PPS, 2023, includes a policy framework for MTSAs that closely resembles policies contained in the Growth Plan. This will allow Mississauga’s more than 60 MTSAs to continue to act as important places for growth and intensification. City staff have still not received clarification from the Minister on his recent correspondence regarding maximum heights in MTSAs. However, nothing in Bill 97 or in the proposed PPS, 2023, indicates that the Province would restrict municipalities from being able to place height limits in those areas.

If heights limits are removed from MTSAs, it could have significant implications for growth forecasting and would add uncertainty to planning for infrastructure in Mississauga. Given the significant number of MTSAs and their wide distribution throughout the city, it would be cost prohibitive / unfeasible to service 60 MTSAs to be ready for unlimited growth.

Housing

The deletion of the definition of affordable housing and removal of the requirement to establish and work towards meeting affordable housing targets will weaken the City’s ability to secure affordable housing. This policy change reduces the clarity and transparency of Provincial direction to municipalities to plan for affordable housing. It will be difficult to establish rationale for policies and programs that will achieve affordable housing in the absence of targets.

• Removing the policy foundation for affordable housing will lead to inconsistency across the Province with respect to the goals and objectives of building affordable housing in Ontario.

• There is a need to focus on influencing both supply more generally, as well as the right type of supply to meet the needs of residents. It will be difficult to influence outcomes without strong policy direction at the Provincial level.

Climate Change and Infrastructure

• City staff recommend the Province to retain policies requiring climate change to be considered as part of land use and infrastructure planning, and preparation of infrastructure and public service facilities for the impacts of climate change. The removal of stronger policies represents a step backward that will not support efforts to respond to a changing climate.

• Climate change needs to be considered in all planning decisions and should be reinforced as a provincial priority throughout the PPS.

• The Province is urged to retain policies supporting the achievement of compact, low carbon, and complete communities where development is aligned with efficient infrastructure planning, climate change adaptation and mitigation, and the protection of the natural environment and resources. The following policies should be included in the new PPS:
o Promote compact communities that are supported by robust public transportation and active transportation infrastructure
o Avoiding development and land use patterns which many cause environmental or public health concerns and contribute to growing greenhouse gas emissions

• Consideration for natural heritage and surface water features should be maintained in policy as a means to protect the natural environment.

Natural and Human-made Hazards

• City staff support the inclusion of a policy requiring the identification of hazard lands and management of development in these areas. City staff will continue coordinating with conservation authorities for the evaluation of development applications to assess the limits of development near hazard lands.

Compact and urban schools are encouraged

Proposed PPS, 2023, includes an innovative policy to encourage the development of schools and other public facilities in the base of condominium buildings. In an urbanized city like Mississauga, with limited sites to accommodate new schools and many children living in growth areas, this provincial direction should help see more local schools being built.

• City staff encourages the Province and school boards to be proactive in the supply of schools in areas of high growth and intensification as well as encouraging schools to be co-located within mixed-use and residential developments. The Province should help school boards with additional funding given the more costly nature of urban schools.

Cultural Heritage and Archaeology

• The Province should clarify the meaning of “proactive strategies” with respect to identifying properties for evaluation under the Ontario Heritage Act. Will there be an opportunity to discuss examples? Additionally, would this language apply only to archeology or to all historic properties?

• Further clarification is also requested on engagement with Indigenous communities. What is meant by "ensuring interests are considered" and what is the expectation of municipal staff?

• City staff recommend that policies on engagement with Indigenous communities be clarified to facilitate more substantive municipal-Indigenous relationships.

Natural Heritage

Detailed comments on the upcoming proposed Natural Heritage policies will be included as part of a separate ERO.

• City staff strongly recommend the Province to at least maintain general natural heritage system policies in the new PPS until further policies are developed. The Province has suggested that it will consult on these Natural Heritage policies as part of a separate ERO, but ordinarily in that circumstance the existing policy framework is maintained until the new policies are developed. Deleting these policies before they are replaced could lead to a temporary gap in the PPS where little direction on natural heritage is provided.

• The Province is urged to have meaningful engagement with Indigenous communities, municipalities, conservation authorities and other stakeholders on revising natural heritage policies.

Implementation: All decisions going forward must be consistent with new PPS

Implementation provisions require that all planning decisions (even for applications submitted under the previous regime) must be consistent with the PPS, 2023, (once it is adopted) even if the Official Plan has not been updated. Furthermore, Bill 97 proposes to allow the Minister to make regulations that could address different transition rules. This lack of clarity would create increased uncertainty in the planning process and in the review of development applications.

• The Province could reconsider the Official Plan review process. If the intent is to be consistent with the proposed PPS, the Province should develop transition provisions that remove the need to conform to the entire Region of Peel Official Plan, approved in November 2022 under the current planning framework. Instead, the transition should indicate that lower-tier municipalities within Regions with no approval authority have to review their official plans to conform to the new changes in the Planning Act and to be consistent with the proposed PPS, without the need to conform to those relevant sections in previously approved upper-tier municipalities' official plans.

• Moreover, more time should be given as reviews of the Mississauga's planning regime as a result of these changes could be significant. The Province should include a transition extending the timeline for the completion of lower-tier official plan reviews to address conformity to the new changes to the Planning Act and to be consistent with a proposed PPS.

Minister's Zoning Orders (MZOs)

When implementing the PPS, the Ministry may make decisions that take into account “other considerations” to balance government priorities. However, it is unclear what those “other considerations” are and the weight that should be given to the formally established matters of Provincial interest.

• City staff agree that in many cases the use of MZOs and the revisions to municipal Official Plans by the Ministry may be necessary and beneficial in order to expedite development that would create an important benefit (e.g., creation of affordable housing or for long-term care). However, in order to have a clear planning framework and create certainty for developers, councils, communities and businesses, all planning decisions, including MZOs, should always be consistent with the PPS and have regard to the matters of provincial interest as spelled out in the Planning Act.

Coordination
• City staff support the coordination policies in the proposed PPS. Staff will continue to have an open and transparent approach to engagement on planning matters, including the implementation of the PPS.