Item - 2023.PH8.7

The Planning and Housing Committee recommends that:

1. City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to consult with the City prior to issuing any draft regulations associated with Bill 109, specifically related to definitions included in the legislation, limitations on refund eligibility, waivers, a "stop the clock" mechanism, and other implementation tools.

2. City Council request the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to consult with the City regarding a "reasonable timeline" within which residential development applicants who receive planning approval must commence construction.

3. City Council amend the New Business provisions of the City of Toronto Municipal Code, Chapter 27, Council Procedures, to authorize the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, to report directly to City Council when recommending refusal of an application for an Official Plan Amendment and/or Zoning By-law Amendment.

The Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the Project Director, Business Transformation, City Planning gave a presentation on Implementing Bill 109 - 2023 Annual Update.

In December 2022, Council adopted the report "Implementing Bill 109 - the More Homes for Everyone Act, 2022" (2022.EX1.4). This report provides a summary of progress in 2023 under the two guiding principles established in December 2022:

·  Continue to focus on and prioritize good city-building outcomes; and

·  Mitigate risk to cost recovery of development review services. 

Putting these principles into practice has driven change in practice but as predicted, has revealed the unintended consequences of the legislation. Legislated review timelines do not take into consideration Toronto's complex urban environment. They ignore the reality that positive results are commonly achieved through collaboration over time during the review. To mitigate risk to cost recovery in the near term, the City faces long-term risks to good city-building outcomes. Without further legislative change or regulation that recognizes the City's unique development context, the ability to work together with applicants to implement the City's strategic priorities will be diminished.   

The City continues to make considerable progress in the areas of staff recruitment, policy and process change, and implementation of new technology, as outlined in this report. Despite best effort and ongoing engagement with our industry partners, risk to cost recovery will not be fully mitigated in 2023 and is expected to continue into 2024.

In addition to an update on progress in 2023, this report responds to Council direction on item 2023.PH6.2 which requested that the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the City Solicitor report to the November 30, 2023 meeting of the Planning and Housing Committee with possible measures, if any, that could be taken by the City of Toronto to avoid planning application fee refunds as prescribed in Bill 109 amendments to Section 114 of the City of Toronto Act, 2006. The City Solicitor has been consulted in the preparation of this report.