Public comment sought on proposed changes to four provincial plans

On Tuesday of this week, the Province of Ontario announced proposals for major amendments to land use policies in the Greater Golden Horseshoe (GGH), which includes the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA). The proposed changes cover four provincial plans: the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, the Greenbelt Plan, the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan and the Niagara Escarpment Plan.

The proposed changes are part of a report from an advisory panel appointed by the province and led by former federal cabinet minister and Toronto Mayor David Crombie. In total, 87 recommendations were made in the report, titled Planning for Health Prosperity and Growth in the Greater Golden Horseshoe: 2015 – 2041. While reviewing the four provincial plans, the panel spent just over a year consulting with residents and other stakeholders.

The report poses a central question for the region: ‘where and how will future growth be accommodated?’ To stress this point, it highlights forecasts that “the number of people living in the region will grow from the current population of about nine million people to about 13.5 million by 2041, with the number of jobs forecast to rise from 4.5 million to 6.3 million. This will increase our population by nearly 50 per cent and the number of jobs by 40 per cent.”

If implemented the changes could have a profound impact on development within the region for years to come. They clearly encourage more intensification and development around transit corridors and hubs. It is a direction which ULI Toronto clearly anticipated with the launch of its “Electric Cities” initiative that looks at how we can best capitalize on the enormous placemaking possibilities of expansion in public transportation infrastructure now underway throughout the GTHA.

Some of the most notable proposals from a GTHA perspective include:

• Mandating 60 per cent intensification in existing neighbourhoods instead of 40 per cent, and 80 people and jobs per hectare in new build areas, instead of the current 50.
• Prescribing new zoning requirements along transit corridors that provide adequate density for transit.
• Strengthening protections for employment lands and transit corridors.
• Requiring the province to establish a transparent and consistent way for municipalities to calculate the amount of land needed to accommodate growth.
• Increasing the Greenbelt, currently 800,000 hectares in size, to include 21 major river valleys and four parcels of land identified by Hamilton and the Region of Niagara.
• Calling on municipalities to write climate change policies into official plans and undertake climate change vulnerability risk assessments of new or replaced infrastructure.

Initial news coverage of the proposals noted generally positive responses from government and a number non-profit and advocacy groups involved in land-use planning and development. For example, there was strong support for promoting density in the places where the demand for housing is highest – near transit.

Nonetheless, concerns were raised about how municipalities will comply with the new planning rules and whether there were sufficient incentives in place for them to do so. One municipal official quoted in The Globe and Mail, called on the province to allow for flexibility rather than force new rules. “By imposing this one-size fits all, you create some problems even within a region like us”. Also, issues were raised by some in the home building industry about how the new rules could impact the supply of housing, particularly single-detached housing, and its implications on housing affordability.

Members of the public — and stakeholder groups — can provide input on the proposed changes, in a series of open houses scheduled in May and June. A list of open houses can be accessed on the province’s official website, while an online feedback form is also available. ULI Toronto will continue to monitor these developments closely and keep you updated. For now, a more detailed summary of the advisory panel’s recommendations is linked here, accompanied by a full copy of the report.