Item - 2025.PH18.13

The Planning and Housing Committee recommends that:

1. City Council adopt the Community Benefits Charge In-Kind Contribution Guidelines included as Attachment 1 to the report (January 7, 2025) from the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning.

2. City Council direct the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, and Executive Director, Development Review to apply the Community Benefits Charge In-Kind Contribution Guidelines in the evaluation of in-kind contributions for eligible developments, in accordance with the City's Community Benefits Charge Bylaw (1139-2022).

3. City Council direct the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, and Executive Director, Development Review to consider local context when applying the Community Benefits Charge In-Kind Guidelines, including considering opportunities that meet the intent but are not specified in the Guidelines.

As Toronto grows, so does the need for new and expanded public facilities and public realm improvements that support a high quality of life. The Community Benefits Charge (CBC) is an important tool, in combination with other funding sources, to help the City respond to this need and create complete communities, where things like parks, libraries, child care, community and cultural spaces, affordable housing options, and a welcoming public realm are available and easily accessible.

In most cases, the CBC is provided as a payment at the time of the first building permit. However, in some instances there may be benefit to the City in accepting in-kind contributions that support the City's strategic and policy goals and meet identified community needs. The purpose of the CBC In-Kind Guidelines (“the Guidelines”) is to provide a transparent, policy supported and evidence-based approach for considering in-kind CBC contributions. The Guidelines (Attachment 1) are also intended to support consistency in how and when in-kind contributions are accepted and ensure alignment with the City's approach to allocating CBC funds that have been collected.

The Guidelines are based on a set of five principles which provide high-level guidance for assessing a proposed in-kind contribution. The principles are: Complete Communities, Growth Pays for Growth, Equitable Distribution, Prioritization of Funding Sources, and Alignment with Planning Tools.

The Guidelines include a recommended process for considering and accepting in-kind CBC contributions, to provide a clear, predictable, transparent path for everyone involved. This process includes guidance for considering when to accept an in-kind contribution while balancing the various community priorities within an area to make best use of the CBC, as well as a general description of the steps involved in securing an in-kind CBC contribution. The Guidelines also include Capital Facility Requirements, which describe minimum requirements, sources of information, and other key considerations for each of the most common types of in-kind contributions in more detail.