Premier Doug Ford has legislation planned that would allow his government to override municipal zoning bylaws in order to create more housing across the province, according to a draft Powerpoint acquired by the Toronto Star.
The Star says the confidential cabinet document they obtained shows that the Progressive Conservatives want to remove restrictions and zoning laws that favour single-family homes over "missing middle" housing -- such as duplexes and triplexes -- and is not too different than what soon-to-be Premier of British Columbia David Eby has previously suggested for BC.
According to the Star, this is only one part of a sweeping new set of legislation on housing.
Additionally, in an effort towards "streamlining approvals and removing barriers," the legislation hones in on cutting the role of conservation authorities (CAs), which have been used to stall development. According to the Star, the new legislation would "review and re-scope their role to streamline permitting, freeze fees, and direct CAs to make land available for housing", as well as reduce them to "commenting agencies" focused solely on preventing floods and other natural hazards."
STOREYS reached out to the Premier's office, which stated, "The housing legislation will be introduced on Tuesday when we'll also announce more details."
Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark told the Star that the Province wants the 36 conservation authorities to "focus on their core mandate" of watershed management.
Furthermore, the new legislation would also allow the Tories to eliminate "unnecessary approvals and inhibiting rules, such as waiving site plan control for smaller developments, limiting third party appeals, and removing unnecessary public meetings."
The internal document also supposedly shows that the government would provide "municipal targets and seek pledges to align municipal work with the province's 1.5M home goals," alluding to Ford's promise to build 150,000 new homes every year for the next decade.
Clark, however, emphasized that the government would maintain collaboration with municipalities to achieve their housing construction targets.
This comes only a few weeks after it was revealed that Ford's government is also planning on eliminating development charges on "inclusionary zoning" projects. These charges -- which can range from $25,470 all the way to $93,978, according to the City of Toronto -- are usually rerouted towards funding civic infrastructure, and many argued that doing this could damage the government's financials.
Inclusionary zoning allows municipal governments to mandate lower-cost housing units, creating more affordable housing for a city and province that desperately needs it.
According to the Star, this new sweeping housing legislation is set to be tabled on Tuesday, immediately following the municipal election.
