Burlington Sends Comments to Province on Bill 97 & Proposed Provincial Planning Statement
Burlington City Council has approved the City of Burlington's submitted comments in response to the Province's Bill 97 HelpingHomebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act, 2023 and the Proposed Provincial Planning Statement.
Council has directed the Director of Community Planning to provide the staff report, its attachments (see links further down this post) and any additional comments based on feedback at the May 30, 2023, Community Planning, Regulation and Mobility (CPRM) Committee tothe Province in advance of Council approval on June 13, 2023.Fundamental changes to the basic framework of the Provincial policy-led system alongside changes already discussed through other legislative and regulatory consultations are all intended to support Ontario’s Housing Supply Action Plan and the provincial commitment to build 1.5 million homes by 2031. There are significant challenges and opportunities in this time of change. Balancing all matters of provincial interest and implementing the local vision in Official Plans is critical to support the creation of a full range of housing, including housing that is affordable in relation to real incomes, the accommodation of employment, improving mobility, taking action on climate change and protecting agriculture, the environment and cultural heritage.MY TAKE:An incredible amount of insight and thought was put into this submission by staff in a short amount of time. This is a bit of good news with some red flags. I appreciate the unanimous commitment from council and staff to protect our Greenbelt, rural areas and farmlands. The key is how do we balance the need for housing (that we’ve committed to as well) with quality of life. This staff report touches every aspect of what Council and staff will be working on to pave the way for the 29,000 additional units and many more residents we will be welcoming to our community.
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To read the staff report and related supporting documents, please click/tap the links below:
- Staff report: .PL-39-23 City of Burlington Comments - Bill 97 and proposed Provincial Planning Statement.pdf
- Appendices:
BACKGROUND:The Province of Ontario introduced Bill 97 - Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act, 2023 on April 6, 2023. The goal of the legislation is to support the implementation of the Province’s Housing Supply Action Plan and its commitment to build 1.5 million homes by 2031.The omnibus bill proposes amending a number of existing statutes including: the Building Code Act, City of Toronto Act, Development Charges Act, Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing Act, Municipal Act, the Planning Act, and the Residential Tenancies Act.As of the date of writing this report the Bill has had second reading and has been referred to the Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure and Cultural Policy.Also on April 6, the province released the proposed Provincial Planning Statement, representing a combination of the Provincial Policy Statement, 2020 (“PPS, 2020”) and A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, 2020 (“A Place to Grow”). As was noted in the Fall of 2022, the province sought feedback and initiated “a review on approaches for leveraging the housing supportive policies of both documents, removing barriers and continuing to protect the environment through a streamlined province-wide land use planning policy framework”.Based on the feedback collected, the Province combined elements of A Place to Grow and the PPS, 2020 into a new land-use policy document. The proposed Provincial Planning Statement was released for public feedback, with comments due by June 5, 2023. The Province also released a document outlining the proposed approach to implementation of the proposed Provincial Planning Statement. The document indicates that the Province expects to release the final policies for a short period of review, currently targeting fall of 2023.