And Then There Was One: Provincial Planning Statement, 2024

The Province of Ontario has introduced a streamlined land use planning policy framework aimed to build on its ongoing efforts to cut red tape, lower housing costs, and get more homes built.

On August 20, 2024, the Province of Ontario released the Provincial Planning Statement, 2024 (the “2024 Planning Statement”), which consolidates and replaces Ontario’s primary policy documents: the Provincial Policy Statement, 2020 (the “2020 Policy Statement”) and A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, 2019 (the “Growth Plan”).

The 2024 Planning Statement comes into force on October 20, 2024, and will apply to all decisions affecting a planning matter made on or after that date. The Growth Plan will be repealed on the same date.

Since 2006, the Provincial Policy Statement and the Growth Plan have provided distinct, but parallel, policy direction on land use planning matters in Ontario. The 2024 Planning Statement creates a single, province-wide land use planning instrument intended to expedite government approval processes by streamlining existing policies and providing to municipalities and planning authorities the direction, encouragement, and flexibility to deliver more housing. The 2024 Planning Statement is the latest step in the Province’s plan to address the current housing supply and affordability crisis.

Below is an overview of the key policy changes introduced in the 2024 Planning Statement.

Large and Fast-Growing Municipalities

  • The 2024 Planning Statement identifies 29 municipalities that are deemed to be “large and fast-growing municipalities”.
  • Under the new policies, these large and fast-growing municipalities are encouraged to plan for a target of 50 residents and jobs per gross hectare within designated growth areas.
  • Large and fast-growing municipalities are required to undertake watershed planning to inform planning for sewage, water services and stormwater management, and the protection, improvement or restoration of the quality and quantity of water. All other municipalities are merely “encouraged” to undertake such efforts.

Planning for People and Homes

  • With a view to standardizing municipal and employment growth forecasts across the Province, planning authorities are now required to base population and employment growth forecasts on the Ontario Population Projections published by the Ministry of Finance.
  • Despite this requirement, the 2024 Planning Statement also permits municipalities to continue to use population and employment growth forecasts previously issued by the Province of Ontario for the purposes of land use planning.
  • The 2024 Planning Statement requires that at the time of creating a new Official Plan and each Official Plan update, sufficient land must be made available to accommodate an appropriate range and mix of land uses to meet projected needs for a time horizon of at least 20 years, but not more than 30 years. This is a departure from the 2020 Policy Statement, which referred to a time horizon of up to 25 years.

Settlement Areas and Settlement Area Boundary Expansions

  • The 2024 Planning Statement now allows private applications to expand a settlement boundary by eliminating the requirement that such expansions can only occur through a municipal comprehensive review. Accordingly, municipalities will be able to consider new settlement areas and settlement area boundaries at any time.
  • This follows the legislative amendments delivered through Bill 185, the Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act, 2024, which permitted private applicants to appeal a municipality’s refusal or failure to adopt an official plan amendment that seeks to alter any part of the boundary of a settlement area, so long as the boundary alteration does not include any land within the Greenbelt.
  • The 2024 Planning Statement removes the current pre-conditions to settlement area additions or boundary expansions. Instead, planning authorities are merely required to “consider” certain criteria when identifying a new settlement area or allowing a settlement area boundary expansion.
  • The 2024 Planning Statement confirms that planning authorities may only identify a new settlement area where it has been demonstrated that the infrastructure and public service facilities to support development are planned or available.

Strategic Growth Areas

  • Policy 2.4 of the 2024 Planning Statement contains new policies, which encourage municipalities to identify strategic growth areas that are intended to be the focus of growth and development. Strategic growth areas are deemed to include major transit station areas.
  • The 2024 Planning Statement includes several planning considerations for strategic growth areas intended to support the achievement of complete communities, a range and mix of housing options, intensification, and more mixed-use development.

Major Transit Station Areas

  • All planning authorities will be required to delineate boundaries for major transit station areas (“MTSAs”) on higher order transit corridors through a new Official Plan or amendments to existing plans. The delineation must define an area within an approximately 500 to 800-metre radius of a transit station and that maximizes the number of potential transit users that are within walking distance of the station.
  • Policy 2.4.2.2 of the 2024 Planning Statement also requires municipalities to plan for specified minimum density targets for residents and jobs within MTSAs on higher order transit corridors.
  • The 2024 Planning Statement specifies that major transit station areas should be planned and designed to be transit-supportive and to achieve multimodal access to stations and connections to nearby major trip generators.

Employment Areas

  • The 2024 Planning Statement permits municipalities to remove lands from employment areas at any time to support the forms of development and job creation that suit the local context, provided certain conditions are met.
  • The development of industrial, manufacturing, and small-scale warehousing uses that can be operated adjacent to sensitive land uses without causing adverse effects is also encouraged.
  • Existing policy requirements for municipalities to consider the impact of development on the long-term economic viability of employment uses are strengthened in the 2024 Planning Statement. Under the new policies, any development on lands within 300 metres of employment areas must avoid, minimize and mitigate potential impacts on the long-term economic viability of employment uses within existing or planned employment areas.

Agriculture

  • The 2024 Planning Statement clarifies permissions around creating additional residential units in prime agricultural areas. Policy 4.3.2.5 states that where a residential dwelling is permitted on prime agricultural land, up to two additional residential units are permitted, provided that specific criteria are met. The 2024 Planning Statement also clarifies that the additional residential units are in addition to farm worker housing.
  • The definition of “on-farm diversified uses” has been updated in the 2024 Planning Statement to include energy generation, transmission, and energy storage systems, enabling renewable energy generation projects to proceed in agricultural areas.

Implementation and Interpretation

  • Policy 6.1.6 of the 2024 Planning Statement requires planning authorities to keep their zoning by-laws and official plans up to date by establishing permitted uses, minimum densities, heights, and other development standards to accommodate growth and development. There are no timelines for compliance or penalties for non-compliance.
  • The 2024 Planning Statement confirms that regardless of whether a municipality has updated its Official Plan and other planning instruments to be consistent with the 2024 Planning Statement, all planning matters must be consistent with the 2024 Planning Statement as of October 20, 2024.
  • The Province is currently seeking feedback on the Environmental Registry of Ontario as to whether transition regulations are needed to implement the 2024 Planning Statement. The positing is open for comment until September 20, 2024.

Final Thoughts

Provincial planning policy in Ontario is continually evolving. Loopstra Nixon LLP’s Municipal, Land Use Planning and Development Law Group is engaged in all aspects of Ontario’s municipal, land use planning, and development law. If you have any questions regarding the 2024 Planning Statement and how to navigate the recent changes, please do not hesitate to contact a member of our team.  

Disclaimer

The information provided above serves as a high-level summary and does not constitute legal advice. 

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