This report is the fifth in a series of studies by the Pembina Institute on provincial legislation and policy affecting urban development in southern Ontario. The report series began with the Pembina Institute’s February 2003 report Smart Growth in Ontario: The Promise vs. Provincial Performance.¹

Drawing on materials from governmental, academic, non-governmental and institutional sources, ranging from the Federation of Ontario Naturalists (Ontario Nature)² to the Toronto-Dominion Bank³ and the C.D. Howe Institute,⁴ the Pembina Institute’s February 2003 study outlined a provincial policy framework for urban development intended to reduce urban sprawl and result in more environmentally, economically and socially...

Much of the funding for major new municipal capital infrastructure, such as transportation and sewer and water systems, comes from the Province. The Province’s policies regarding infrastructure provision, therefore, can have a major impact on development patterns. Providing funding for the extension of transportation and sewer and water infrastructure beyond the boundaries of existing communities can, for example, facilitate and encourage urban sprawl. Requiring infrastructure investments to be supportive of more sustainable development patterns, such as infill developments, intensification, and brownfields and greyfields redevelopment, and the enhancement of services within existing urban areas, can have the opposite effect.

In addition...

The authority of Ontario municipalities over land-use planning is governed through the provincial Planning Act and Provincial Policy Statement, and overseen by the provincially appointed Ontario Municipal Board. The policy directions set by the Province through its legislation and policies therefore have a major impact on development patterns. The province can also direct planning in specific locations under the Ontario Planning and Development Act.

The provincial legislative and policy framework for land-use planning has undergone major changes over the past decade. A strong focus on containing urban sprawl and promoting more sustainable development patterns emerged through the work of the...

The rules regarding property taxation and the application of development charges by municipalities, both of which can have a major impact on development,¹ are defined through provincial legislation.² The Development Charges Act, 1997, for example, restricts the ability of municipalities to require internalization of infrastructure costs for new developments. The 1997 Fair Municipal Finance Act, and 1998 Fairness to Property Taxpayers Act severely constrain municipalities in the design of their property tax systems.

In addition, as with infrastructure, the Province makes taxation decisions of its own that affect urban development patterns. The Land Transfer Tax Rebate program, introduced in 1996,...

Municipal governments in Ontario work within the policy and legislative framework provided to them by the Province. The Province, for example, defines the basic structures and geographic boundaries of municipal governments. Municipalities’ legislative and licensing powers are limited to those provided through the provincial Municipal Act. As well, provincial legislation establishes and defines the powers of agencies and other bodies that coordinate activities across municipal borders, such as conservation authorities and the Greater Toronto Services Board that existed between 1999 and 2001. The role, structure and authority of the Ontario Municipal Board are also defined through provincial legislation.

The rules...

The past 18 months have been a period of major activity on land-use planning. The Province has adopted a revised PPS under the Planning Act, adopted greenbelt and growth plans for the GGH and a revised Niagara Escarpment Plan. These initiatives have been generally consistent with smart growth principles, placing a strong emphasis on intensification, redevelopment, mixed use and the viability of non-automobile transportation options while limiting settlement area boundary expansions to the time of comprehensive OP reviews.

At the same time, however, provisions requiring municipalities to maintain continuous minimum supplies of land for development have been retained in the...