Mayor’s Monday Mailbag – Dec. 5, 2022 – What is the City of Burlington Doing About Bill 23?

Welcome to the Mayor’s Monday Mailbag, an initiative Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward and the Mayor’s Office launched to share weekly answers to questions from the public we’ve received through our main email inbox at mayor@burlington.ca or the Mayor’s social media platforms.At the end of the month, we publish a roundup of those most pressing questions we’ve received in the weeks prior.Mayor’s Monday Mailbag – Dec. 5, 2022QUESTION:“What is the City of Burlington doing about the Province's Bill 23, More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022?"ANSWER:The Mayor's Office has received numerous feedback and concerns from the public regarding Bill 23. Mayor Meed Ward is continually advocating for Burlington in how it, like other municipalities, will be negatively impacted by the Bill on the various tables she sits at and is sharing her thoughts on her various social media channels and with the media who have reached out for interviews.

• The City of Burlington most recently published a news release outlining the impacts of Bill 23 on our city.
• Mayor Meed Ward also recently spoke to Bill 23 during her Weekly Mayor's Update with YourTV Halton News -- Click here to watch the media clip
• The Mayor’s website has been sharing several posts related to Bill 23 since it was announced by the Province back in October. She has raised concerns about the proposal to shift growth costs from for-profit developers to taxpayers, and how additional fulsome consultations with municipalities are needed. The City of Burlington is already doing our share and will continue to address supply, that will help overall affordability. We have 21,000 housing units under review toward the 29,000 units assigned to us by the Province. These will largely be around our Major Transit Station Areas (3 GO stations), aging retail plazas, and other select growth nodes. You can read more about our MTSA work here: https://www.getinvolvedburlington.ca/mtsa
• Burlington City Council and Regional Council unanimously endorsed resolutions raising concerns about Bill 23. The Mayor mentions the potential consequences will be devastating to the environment, to coordinated planning and to taxpayers — "downloading the costs of growth from for-profit developers to you, the taxpayer. It is chaotic and the wrong kind of disruption. I have little doubt that this will lead to unintended consequences that will, at the end of the day, make it harder to build homes faster. As such, it works against the goal of what we all want to achieve. We stand ready to work with the Province as an equal partner."
• The Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) board and Ontario's Big City Mayors (OBCM) caucus have raised the same concerns around downloading costs related to new developments to taxpayers, and estimated the cost to municipalities at $1 billion per year. The only way to make that up will be in raising taxes, which doesn't help affordability.
• As a member of the Conservation Halton Board, along with the Mayors of Oakville and Milton, Mayor Meed Ward co-signed a letter to the Province urging the government to press pause on Bill 23. Read more here.
• The Mayor also added her voice to the concerns of the Small Urban GTHA Mayors in their letter to the Province. The Small Urban GTHA Mayors letter mentioned that they “agree that housing availability and affordability is a priority issue in each of their municipalities. Although we collectively agree with some aspects of the Bill, there are several unprecedented implications for small urban communities that need to be discussed.”
• In addition, Mayor Meed Ward penned a letter to share her, Council's and the Burlington's concerns with Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark, mentioning that “building housing for Ontarians is too important to rush, therefore, Bill 23 should be paused and more fulsome dialogue with municipalities is needed.” The letter outlines concerns of Ontario's Big City Mayors, as well as specific impacts to Burlington, sharing further concerns around funding cuts and accountability. Please read more here. As the Mayor also outlined in her letter, there is no guarantee that savings will be passed on to buyers.

In summary:The Mayor has added her voice to advocacy, asking the Province to "press pause” on Bill 23. This will give municipalities and Conservation Authorities time to work with the Province on the best way forward. Planning for the immediate and future housing needs for Ontario, needs to be done in such a way that it has no negative impacts on the environment (wetlands, stormwater catch basins, etc.) or on municipalities’ ability to collect the needed Development Charges (DCs) to build infrastructure and provide services to the residents in these new homes. While we recognize that housing affordability needs to be addressed, Burlington has a Housing Strategy to look at tools to address affordability including crediting DCs for “affordable” units and inclusionary zoning for affordable units around MTSAs. You can read more about our affordability strategy here: https://www.getinvolvedburlington.ca/housingstrategyThe actions the Mayor and Council are taking are in an effort to provide mechanisms for more affordable and attainable housing, to ensure that municipalities’ voices are considered when planning for the future and to protect our natural environment.

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RELATED LINKS:

• City of Burlington Responds to Severe Impacts of Bill 23
• Funding Cuts & Accountability Among Burlington’s Bill 23 Concerns Outlined in Mayor’s Letter to Minister
• Small Urban GTHA Mayors Call on Province to Pause Proceeding with Bill 23, ‘More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022’
• Ontario’s Big City Mayors Statement on Presenting to the Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure and Cultural Policy on Bill 23, More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022
• Burlington Council Unanimously Passes Bill 23 Resolution Asking for Extended Commenting Periods for Legislative Changes & More Fulsome Municipal Consultations
• TVO Today Article: How changes to conservations rules could affect Hamilton, Halton, and Niagara
• Conservation Halton Board Urges Ontario Premier to Press Pause on Bill 23 More Homes Built Faster 2022
• Province Introduces New Plan to Increase Housing Supply in Ontario
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