Proposed Amendments to Ontario Regulation 73/23: Municipal Planning Data Reporting

On April 6, 2023, Ontario Regulation 73/23: Municipal Planning Data Reporting, came into effect. This regulation requires 29 municipalities in Ontario to report information on planning matters to the Ministry on a quarterly and annual basis.

The purpose of this posting is to provide an overview of the proposed amendments to the regulation.

Expanding List of Municipalities

Schedule 1 of the regulation outlines which municipalities in Ontario are subject to the requirements of the regulation. Currently, 29 of Ontario’s largest, fastest-growing municipalities are subject to the regulation. The Ministry is proposing to expand the list of municipalities to include 21 additional municipalities with provincially-assigned housing targets (Appendix 1). If the Ministry proceeds with this amendment, the regulation would apply to 50 municipalities across Ontario.

Datapoints and Frequency of Reporting

Under the current regulation, municipalities report application data on a quarterly basis for the following planning applications:

• official plan amendment applications
• zoning by-law amendments
• plans of condominium
• plans of subdivision
• site plan applications
• land severances (consents)
• minor variances
• community infrastructure and housing accelerator orders
• minister’s zoning orders

The Ministry is proposing amendments to Schedule 2 and 3 of the regulation. Appendix 2 outlines the proposed amendments to the information that is reported on a quarterly and annual basis. Collectively, the amendments aim to improve the quality of the information being collected through the regulation by enabling municipalities to report on the status of various planning applications more accurately. Additionally, proposed amendments seek information on proposed and approved housing units.

The proposed amendments include a requirement to prepare a summary table, which outlines key statistics for each quarterly report (e.g., total number of submissions, decisions). Municipalities would be required to publish this summary to their municipal webpage and update the summary each quarter beginning October 1, 2024.