Ontario set to expand powers for new developments to bypass planning process
The Ford government is considering handing new powers to the minister of infrastructure that would allow her to exempt transit-oriented communities from a slew of zoning and planning rules, Global News has learned, in order to speed up the creation of the developments built directly above transit lines.
As part of a bill set to be tabled next week — the Protecting Ontario by Building Faster and Smarter Act — the government will allow the infrastructure minister to issue minister's zoning orders, power previously reserved for the minister of municipal affairs and housing.
Those orders allow projects to skip large parts of the planning process normally governed by local councils and municipal rules.
Developments given minister's zoning orders don't need to comply with local height requirements, parking rules or other zoning specifications normally enforced on developers by towns and cities.
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'This legislation does not change the existing MZO process,' a spokesperson for the Minister of Infrastructure told Global News.
'Rather, it gives the Minister responsible for TOCs the appropriate responsibility to deal with the program — streamlining the process and making it more transparent for municipalities and partners while creating more opportunities to build communities near transit.'
The move is one of a series of housing-related changes the Ford government is set to unveil next week, according to internal documents obtained by Global News.
Other measures relate to areas like development charges and inclusionary zoning.
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The new minister's zoning order powers will be given to Kinga Surma, who heads up the infrastructure ministry. She will be able to use them to push forward transit-oriented communities across Ontario.
The government is in the process of building several transit-oriented communities in and around Toronto.
The projects are housing developments being built along major infrastructure like the Ontario Line, with a key selling point being that developers pay for the cost of building new station infrastructure.
The fresh powers would allow potential new transit-oriented communities — which amount to entire planned areas rather than a single housing tower — to get underway faster and through fewer steps.
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While the government is hoping the move will help it to boost its ailing housing starts, it also comes as the province faces growing frustration with its approach to consultation and allowing major projects to get going faster.
The government is currently proposing to create so-called zones of economic interest in Ontario, where a slew of laws and assessments would not apply, and cabinet ministers would have the power to waive requirements.
Critics say the bill, known as the Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, is designed to ensure projects such as Premier Doug Ford's proposed tunnel under Highway 401 and critical mineral mining in northern Ontario get done with little resistance.
The bill calls for 'trusted proponents' and 'designated projects' within the special economic zones to be exempt from having to comply with all provincial and municipal laws, which the organization said is concerning.
Minister's zoning orders do not give the government that level of power, but they do exempt projects from a number of planning requirements and a significant level of community consultation.
The province also used a minister's zoning order at Ontario Place to bypass the City of Toronto's planning rules for its controversial development of the waterfront attraction to include a private spa and waterpark.
They could increase the number of orders issued, with two ministers now allowed to grant the bypass rights to developers rather than one.
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The Ford government relied heavily on the zoning orders early in its term, handing out record numbers of them for housing projects. The move drew sharp criticism from some quarters, including opponents who characterized it as a giveaway to developers and provincial meddling in municipal issues.
After the Greenbelt scandal, where the Ford government briefly removed protected land to allow for development, the Ontario NDP turned the spotlight on the zoning orders, pointing out developers who attended Ontario Premier Doug Ford's wedding received a total of 18 minister's zoning orders.
Several ministers' zoning orders were also placed on watchlists or cancelled altogether after the Greenbelt scandal.
The same legislation will change some of the rules around how minister's zoning orders work in an effort to ensure the decrees result in faster home development.
Specifically, the minister issuing the order will be able to impose conditions on developers, which means it won't come into effect, and let them bypass the planning process, until certain conditions have been met.
— with files from The Canadian Press
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