City of Mississauga Overhauls Development Process to Meet New Provincial Requirements

The City of Mississauga has undertaken a complete overhaul of its development application review process. In a report to Council today, staff provided an overview of the steps the City will take to meet the new requirements of Bill 109, the More Homes for Everyone Act.

The legislation, enacted in April 2022, introduces new timelines municipalities must follow when making decisions on major development applications such as official plan amendments, rezoning, and site plan applications.  In addition, the legislation includes a penalty system requiring some, or all, of the development application fees collected by the City to be refunded if the new timelines are not met.

“Given all of the financial pressures on cities and taxpayers, we simply can’t afford to give back more than $7 million a year in application fees to the development community,” said Paul Mitcham, City Manager and Chief Administrative Officer.  “These fees are critical in offsetting the cost of reviewing the many detailed development applications that come into the city each year.  Without these fees, the cost would have to be funded by taxpayers which is unfair and once again erodes the principle that growth should pay for growth.”

New Timelines
According to the legislation, municipalities across Ontario must approve or make a decision on development applications according to the following timelines:

• 60 days for a Site Plan application: used to evaluate items such as walkways, parking areas, landscaping or exterior design on a parcel of land where development is proposed
• 90 days for a Zoning amendment: required when an applicant wants to develop a property in a way not permitted by the city’s zoning bylaw
• 120 days for a combined Zoning and Official Plan amendment: required when an applicant wants to develop a property in a way not permitted by both the city’s zoning bylaw and official plan

“Over the past few months, our team has worked to ensure we meet these aggressive new timelines while maintaining the integrity of the process and principles of good planning,” said Andrew Whittemore, Commissioner, Planning and Building.   “As we move forward, we will do what it takes to meet these timelines alongside our residents and the development industry, without sacrificing the integrity of well planned, safe and connected communities.”

Process Changes
The Province’s new approvals timelines will require a number of changes in how the City works with the development community, particularly in the period before a complete application is submitted to the City. Some of the changes include:

• Use of holding provisions on lands to ensure the applicant addresses outstanding technical issues.
• Use of site plan application conditions to ensure the applicant addresses outstanding site conditions prior to building permitting.
• Removal of pre-application fee crediting during the applications process
• Possibility that more applicants will escalate their applications to the Ontario Land Tribunal, which means Mississauga will have less say in the decisions for those developments.

What Bill 109 Means for Mississauga Residents
The City is aiming to ensure community engagement remains part of the process despite the aggressive new timelines. Here are some of the changes to expect:

• Early engagement: Developers will be required to engage with the community directly as they are putting their application together. They must submit a report on the results of their engagement to the City in order for their application to be deemed complete.
• Simultaneous comment period: Complete applications will be posted on the City’s website where members of the public can provide comments while staff are undertaking their review. These comments will inform and support the City’s Recommendation Report.
• Public meeting: The statutory public meeting date will be set approximately 80 days in advance and published as part of the complete application notice. The public meeting will occur when staff present the City’s Recommendation Report to the Planning and Development Committee. The public may provide additional comments at this meeting.

Pilot Timing
The City will begin to pilot these changes starting January 1, 2023 in order to meet the original timeframe outlined in the legislation. Last week, the government signaled its intention to delay the refund requirements set out in Bill 109 by six months, from January 1, 2023 to July 1, 2023.

A report on the City’s pilot – and any changes required – is expected to come before Council in the second quarter of 2023.

Background

The province passed two major housing bills in 2022 that have implications for the City of Mississauga.

1. Bill 109, More Homes for Everyone Act, 2022 received Royal Assent on March 30, 2022. The changes introduced in the legislation respond in part to recommendations from the Housing Affordability Task Force (HATF) report released on February 8, 2022. It included 55 recommendations to increase the supply of market housing in Ontario. The City of Mississauga prepared a detailed response to the task force recommendations which were shared with the province prior to the introduction of Bill 109.
2. Bill 23, More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022 received Royal Assent on November 28, 2022 one month after its introduction on October 25. The City submitted a detailed response to the province outlining concerns with the legislation, which will significantly limit Mississauga’s ability to provide important housing-related infrastructure and services, and result in increased costs for taxpayers. Mississauga is calling on the province to make changes to the legislation. Learn more at mississauga.ca/Bill23.

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• Council and Committees
• Planning and Building