Caivan commends MMAH and the…

Caivan commends MMAH and the Honourable Minister Steve Clark for taking a strong and progressive approach to modernizing planning instruments in the Province with a view to addressing the acute housing crisis in Ontario. The proposed Provincial Planning Statement includes updates that we believe will advance housing supply, improving the quality of life for current and future Ontarians.

Our focus has been placed mostly on natural hazards policies; specifically the need for strong language around the need for modernization of floodplain policy to correspond with contemporary engineering approaches in balancing the pressures of urban development in and around rivers and streams. The latest PPS is an opportunity to provide municipalities, landowners and Conservation Authorities with an up-to-date policy directive that can benefit from the latest in science surrounding climate changes, hydrodynamic assessment and advances in software based modelling techniques and tools that are being utilized around the world in floodplain management.

Hazard lands are not all created equally and it remains imperative that policy maintain flexibility in order for science and sound engineering approaches to determine where and how site alteration can occur to and within hazard lands. This is more pressing a priority than ever as urban land needs to be harnessed to the fullest extent possible in addressing the need for transit oriented and efficiently serviced housing development across the province. This science first approach has already been adopted in the provincial approach to Brownfields and fire hazards, for instance where engineering approaches are utilized to manage and mitigate risk.

In the attached are our suggested addition/modifications to sections 5 and 7 of the Natural Hazard policies Caivan and our team of experts recommends to modernize the PPS approach to a science first methodology.