Proposed new regulation under the Planning Act to prescribe transitional provisions for the Building Better Communities and Conserving Watersheds Act, 2017 (Bill 139)

ERO number
013-1788
Notice type
Regulation
Act
Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990
Posted by
Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing
Notice stage
Decision
Decision posted
Comment period
December 7, 2017 - January 21, 2018 (45 days) Closed
Last updated

This consultation was open from:
December 7, 2017
to January 21, 2018

Decision summary

An amending regulation under the Planning Act was filed on March 5, 2018 and came into force on April 3, 2018. The regulation sets out new transition rules to deal with certain planning matters in process when the land use planning changes made by the Building Better Communities and Conserving Watersheds Act, 2017 took effect.

Decision details

The following amending Planning Act regulation was filed on March 5, 2018 and came into force on April 3, 2018:

This amending regulation sets out new transition rules to deal with certain planning matters in process when the changes made by the Building Better Communities and Conserving Watersheds Act, 2017 took effect on April 3, 2018.

The transition rules are centered around two key dates:

  • December 12, 2017, which is when the Building Better Communities and Conserving Watersheds Act, 2017 received Royal Assent, and
  • April 3, 2018, which is when the changes the Act makes to the land use planning system came into force, as specified by proclamation.

The regulation sets out the following general transition rules:

  • If an appeal is filed before Royal Assent (i.e., December 12, 2017), the appeal will be subject to the old rules
  • An appeal made after proclamation (i.e., April 3, 2018) will generally be subject to the new rules
  • However, in the case of an application for an official plan or zoning by-law amendment received after Royal Assent and appealed before proclamation, it will be subject to the new rules
  • Also, municipally-initiated matters like official plan amendments that are adopted after Royal Assent and appealed before proclamation will be subject to the new rules

Planning Act changes not addressed in the transition regulation apply immediately on April 3, 2018.

Comments received

Through the registry

12

By email

0

By mail

32
View comments submitted through the registry

Effects of consultation

Summary of comments

The government received submissions on this proposal from municipalities, the professional/legal sector, development sector, environmental groups, community groups and members of the public.

Some submissions expressed general support for the proposed approach to transition as outlined in the proposal notice. Many submissions requested that the new system come into effect and apply to all planning applications submitted after date of First Reading (i.e., retroactively to May 30, 2017). Some submissions also sated hey were unable to provide meaningful comments because the proposed intent for the regulations was posted for consultation rather than the draft regulations.

Effect of the consultation on this decision

All comments received, including the comments from the broader consultation on Bill 139, were carefully considered in the decision-making process on this regulation.

The approach to transition rules had to apply within the scope of the authority set out in the Building Better Communities and Conserving Watersheds Act, 2017. The Act authorizes the Minister of Municipal Affairs to make regulation(s) that establish the rules for transition. While there is specific regulation-making authority to facilitate applying the Act’s changes to appeals that are filed prior to proclamation (i.e., before April 3, 2018), this authority only relates to appeals filed after Royal Assent (i.e., after December 12, 2017).

Over the years, the government has learned that transition rules should be simple, easy to implement and clear about the processing of on-going planning matters. Making the date of First Reading the threshold for transition would impact numerous appeals where decisions and related hearing processes could be put into question. The resulting confusion, including legal, administrative and financial impacts, would have been significant.

The approach to transition provides a balance between applying the new system as soon as possible and ensuring fairness for matters already in the system.

Other information

Please note that the following notices are related to this posting:

Supporting materials

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Some supporting materials may not be available online. If this is the case, you can request to view the materials in person.

Get in touch with the office listed below to find out if materials are available.

Provincial Planning Policy Branch
Address

777 Bay Street
13th floor
Toronto, ON
M5G 2E5
Canada

Office phone number

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Original proposal

ERO number
013-1788
Notice type
Regulation
Act
Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990
Posted by
Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing
Proposal posted

Comment period

December 7, 2017 - January 21, 2018 (45 days)

Proposal details

Description of regulation

Bill 139 – the proposed Building Better Communities and Conserving Watersheds Act, 2017 was introduced on May 30, 2017. The Bill proposes to make changes to the Planning Act and introduce new legislation to replace the Ontario Municipal Board Act with the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal Act to give communities a stronger voice in land use planning.

If Bill 139 is passed by the Legislature and receives Royal Assent, the proposed transition regulation would set out rules for planning matters in process at the time of proclamation of the Bill 139 changes to the Planning Act and would provide certainty regarding the processing and decision-making on planning matters. Changes to the Planning Act through Bill 139 not addressed in the proposed transition regulation would apply immediately upon the coming into force of those changes.

Proposed content

It is proposed that the application of the Bill 139 changes identified below be transitioned as follows:

  • Removing appeals of provincial approvals of official plans and official plan updates, including for conformity exercises to provincial plans – these provisions would apply to provincial decisions in respect of which notice is given after the Bill comes into force;
  • Restricting the grounds of appeal of a decision on an official plan/amendment or zoning by-law/amendment to consistency and/or conformity with provincial and/or local plans would apply to:
    • appeals of decisions on those matters in respect of which notice is given after the Bill comes into force (i.e., appeals made during appeal periods that begin after the Bill comes into force); and
    • appeals of decisions made before proclamation in respect of:
      • complete applications made after Royal Assent
      • municipally-initiated official plan amendments that are adopted after Royal Assent; and
      • municipally-initiated zoning by-law amendments that are passed after Royal Assent;
  • Restricting the grounds of a non-decision appeal on an application for an official plan amendment or zoning by-law amendment to consistency and/or, conformity with provincial and/or local plans would apply to:
    • appeals of non-decisions made after the Bill comes into force; and
    • appeals of non-decisions made before proclamation in respect of complete applications made after Royal Assent;
  • The removal of mandatory referrals of Minister’s zoning orders would apply to requests to refer made after the Bill comes into force;
  • The removal of appeals (other than by the province) of interim control by-laws when first passed (for a period of up to 1 year) would apply to decisions made after the Bill comes into force;
  • The restriction on the ability to amend secondary plans for 2 years following their approval, unless allowed by council, would apply to applications for amendments to secondary plans that come into effect after the Bill comes into force;
  • The extension for decision timelines on applications for official plan amendments and zoning by-law amendments would apply to complete applications submitted after Royal Assent and the extension for decision timelines for approval authorities on adopted official plans/amendments would apply to official plans/amendments adopted after Royal Assent.

Purpose of regulation

The purposes of this Notice are:

  1. To inform the public, stakeholders and municipalities of Ontario that the province is considering a new regulation under the Planning Act;
  2. To provide the basic outline of the proposed new regulation; and
  3. To provide 45 days for the public, stakeholders and municipalities of Ontario to comment on the proposed new regulation by directing their written concerns to the contact persons noted below.

Public consultation

This proposal was posted for a 45 day public review and comment period starting December 07, 2017. Comments were to be received by January 21, 2018.

All comments received during the comment period are being considered as part of the decision-making process by the Ministry.

Please Note: All comments and submissions received have become part of the public record.

Other public consultation opportunities

Comments should be directed to the following Contact Person:

Ken Petersen, Manager
Provincial Planning Policy Branch
777 Bay Street, 13th floor
Toronto, Ontario, M5G 2E5
PHONE: 1-855-776-8011

In addition to this EBR posting, comments can be submitted electronically to OMBReview@ontario.ca

All comments will be considered as part of the decision-making by the Ministry if they:

  1. are submitted in writing;
  2. reference the EBR Registry number; and
  3. are received by the Contact person within the specified comment period.

Please Note: No acknowledgment or individual response will be provided to those who comment. All comments and submissions received will become part of the public record.

Please note that the following notices are related to this posting:

EBR Registry Posting Number 013-1790: Proposed amendments to matters included in existing regulations under the Planning Act relating to the Building Better Communities and Conserving Watersheds Act, 2017 (Bill 139)

Ontario Regulatory Registry Posting 17-MAG011: Proposed new regulations under the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal Act, 2017

Supporting materials

View materials in person

Some supporting materials may not be available online. If this is the case, you can request to view the materials in person.

Get in touch with the office listed below to find out if materials are available.

Provincial Planning Policy Branch
Address

777 Bay Street
13th floor
Toronto, ON
M5G 2E5
Canada

Office phone number

Comment

Commenting is now closed.

This consultation was open from December 7, 2017
to January 21, 2018

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