Summary#

Bill 108, the More Homes, More Choice Act, 2019, became law as Chapter 9 of Ontario’s 2019 statutes. It amends 13 existing Acts, including the Planning Act and Development Charges Act, 1997; it does not create one new housing program. Its stated goal is to increase housing supply and make housing more affordable, but the law does not guarantee either result.

• Municipalities may impose a new community benefits charge to help pay for services and facilities needed because of development. The charge is capped at a percentage of land value set by regulation; municipalities must put the money in a special account and spend or allocate at least 60% of the account’s balance each year.
• The law limits which services can be funded through development charges, with exceptions and transitional rules. It also sets instalment schedules for some types of development and rules for when charge amounts are set.
• The law changes planning appeals and decision timelines, requires official plans to allow additional residential units in certain houses, and lets the Minister require a municipality to create a development permit system for a specified area or around a specified location.
• It changes rules for species at risk, environmental assessments and heritage properties, including new exemptions or limits on some protections and appeal processes.
• It also changes rules for conservation authorities, school boards, cannabis enforcement, environmental penalties, construction-sector labour relations, workplace safety certification and some workplace insurance premiums.

What it means for you#

• People seeking housing: Official plans must allow two residential units in certain detached, semi-detached and row houses, plus a unit in an ancillary building or structure. This does not require owners to build those units or guarantee more homes or lower prices.
• Builders and property owners: Development charges for rental, institutional, industrial, commercial and non-profit housing are generally paid in annual instalments after a building is ready for occupation. The schedule is six instalments for the first four types and 21 for non-profit housing. Interest may apply. For some development, the charge amount is tied to an earlier planning application.
• Municipalities and taxpayers: Municipalities may use community benefits charges for eligible growth-related capital costs. The charge cannot cover services funded through development charges or other excluded items. The exact cap and other rules depend on regulations.
• Conservation authorities and municipalities: Authorities must provide programs and services prescribed by regulation. For other services that need municipal financing, an agreement with the participating municipality will be required once the relevant rules take effect. The Minister may appoint investigators to examine an authority’s operations.
• Landowners and developers: The Minister may create rules that limit species-at-risk prohibitions or temporarily suspend some protections when a species is first listed. A conservation charge may be required for some permits or agreements. The Act also creates a conservation fund intended to support species protection or recovery.
• People involved in planning or heritage decisions: Some planning appeal timelines are shorter, and people who are not parties to a Tribunal case generally may submit written comments only. Owners of heritage properties face revised notice, decision and appeal rules; demolition or removal of heritage attributes may require consent.
• General public: The Act also permits environmental-assessment exemptions for specified undertakings, expands some environmental enforcement powers, and raises minimum fines for certain cannabis offences. The changes did not all start at the same time; some required later regulations or proclamations.

Money#

No publicly available information on the Act’s total public cost or expected savings.

• Community benefits charges and development charges affect how some growth-related costs are collected from development; the Act does not state what these costs will be for a particular project.
• The Species at Risk Conservation Fund may receive Crown funding, charges, donations and other revenue. The Act allows the Crown to lend to or buy securities in the fund’s agency, and requires the agency’s operating costs to be paid from the fund.
• The Minister may require a conservation authority to pay all or part of an investigation’s cost. Municipalities and authorities also have new planning, consultation and reporting duties, but no cost estimates are provided.

What is unclear#

• Regulations must set important details, including the community benefits charge cap, eligible services, species conservation charges, and which authority programs are mandatory.
• The Act does not provide a full account of how the new charges and rules will affect the cost or supply of housing.
• Some provisions required later regulations or proclamations to take effect; the supplied material does not give all start dates or later rules.
• The supplied material does not include the consolidated parent Acts or current regulations. I could not verify how every amendment interacts with current law today.

Case for#

• The bill appears intended to make some development costs more predictable and spread certain charges over time. That may help developers plan projects and manage upfront costs.
• Allowing additional residential units and changing planning processes could make it easier to add housing in some places.
• The species fund, landscape agreements and new funding rules offer ways to support species recovery while allowing some activities under stated conditions.

Case against#

• Lower or delayed charges do not ensure that builders pass savings on to renters or homebuyers, or that housing is built.
• The new charges and limits may shift costs between developers, municipalities and taxpayers. The Act leaves key limits and rules to later regulations.
• Some species protections may be suspended or narrowed, and some environmental-assessment processes may be exempted. The bill provides criteria, but the practical effects depend on how the powers are used.