Development Charges Consultation

On December 13, Minister Calandra announced a commitment to “work with municipal partners and ensure they have the tools and revenue streams to get shovels in the ground,” including consulting on development charges and fee refund frameworks. 

AMO has consistently stated that Bill 23 was deeply flawed and not in the public interest, undermining municipalities’ ability to build the infrastructure required to support growth. The recent announcement is a significant step towards fulfilling the government’s promise to make municipalities whole from the fiscal impacts of Bill 23. It responds to many of AMO and the municipal sector’s recommendations and shows that the government is listening. 

Municipalities remain committed to doing everything within their power to assist the province in meeting its target to build 1.5 million homes by 2031. We recognize the need to revisit how we fund growth to meet our shared goals. Municipalities are prepared to support reductions in development charges and fees where they help to meet housing and affordability goals, provided that the governments commits to a Social and Economic Prosperity Review to update the provincial-municipal fiscal relationship.  

As a first step in the consultation process, AMO wrote to the Ministers of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Finance and Infrastructure to outline a balanced and targeted approach to development charges. AMO looks forward to working with the government on more detailed discussion of development charges and fee refunds over the coming months. We look forward to a broader conversation to update the provincial-municipal fiscal relationship to support Ontario’s economic foundations and quality of life.