Item - 2026.PH31.12

The Planning and Housing Committee: 

1. Requested the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, to assess the implications of the Province’s new and proposed changes to the scope of Site Plan Control and Parkland Dedication, including how context-specific matters will be addressed and the need for any additional or modified zoning standards, as part of the reporting on any recommended city-wide as-of-right zoning by-law amendments, including zoning by-law amendments to implement new Official Plan policies.

Bill 98, Building Homes and Improving Transportation Infrastructure Act, 2026, was introduced on March 30, 2026, and received Royal Assent on June 2, 2026. Among other matters, the changes affect land use planning authorities in the Planning Act and the City of Toronto Act, including official plans, zoning, site plan control, development standards, secondary plans, application requirements and parkland dedication.

The Bill 98 changes, along with related regulatory changes and potential future changes, impact the relationship between the planning tools that collectively support development review and city-building objectives. These tools include Toronto's shift towards a greater reliance on zoning that permits as-of-right development, which intends to work together with other planning tools to facilitate development, streamline development approvals, and support coordination of infrastructure, servicing, community services, public realm improvements and parkland delivery.

As a result of the Bill 98 changes, staff will be making modifications to some aspects of the scope of review of the Site Plan Control process, as well as modifying the application of the Toronto Green Standard. These changes are summarized in this report.