Update on Bill 23 and TRCA’s Response to Regulatory Proposals
December 8, 2022
TRCA Staff,
Bill 23, the More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022 was passed by the Legislature and received Royal Assent on November 28, 2022. Further to previous staff updates and in response to questions received by SLT, the following clarification is provided regarding the impact of Bill 23 on TRCA’s programs and services.
The majority of amendments to the Conservation Authorities Act (CA Act) through Bill 23 relate to our development and infrastructure plan review and permitting functions, as follows:
Plan Review Programs and Services
There is no change to our current review and commenting functions under the Planning Act and Environmental Assessment Act for natural hazard matters, including where such review and comment is pursuant to Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) and Service Level Agreements (SLAs). Planning application review and commenting services for natural hazards and source protection are mandatory programs and services under Ontario Regulation 686/21. There has been no change to the requirement for municipalities to circulate applications to conservation authorities in accordance with the regulations under the Planning Act.
The scoping of non-mandatory review and commenting to exclude certain applications, proposals and other matters that are made under prescribed acts (e.g., Planning Act, EA Act, etc.), does not become operative until such time as the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry issues an enabling regulation. We continue to work internally and with external contacts to interpret the impacts of these provisions and to try to influence the future regulations.
Effective January 1, 2023, Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) appeals of land use planning decisions and party status requests under the Planning Act by conservation authorities, in their capacity as a public commenting body, will be limited to matters that relate to natural hazard policies in any policy statements issued under the Planning Act. This new provision does not impact any OLT appeals where TRCA obtained party status prior to January 1, 2023.
Permits
Until the new Section 28 provisions come into force and Ontario Regulation 166/06 is repealed, it is business as usual for permitting services, except for the new clauses (s. 28.0.1) concerning permits associated with Minister’s Zoning Orders (MZOs) and Community Infrastructure and Housing Accelerator Orders (CIHAOs) which are now in effect (e.g., Minister’s ability to limit conditions applied to a permit). Municipal building officials should continue to refer applicants for development proposals within regulated areas to TRCA.
When the amendments come into force, the tests of “pollution” and “conservation of land” for the issuance of a permit will be removed and replaced with “unstable soil or bedrock”.
The clause to exempt permits for certain regulated areas in certain municipalities where there are Planning Act approvals will not become operative until a regulation or regulations are made to prescribe activities, areas of municipalities or types of authorizations under the Planning Act subject to such terms and conditions as may be prescribed for the purposes of this exemption.
Fees
TRCA’s Fee Schedules for Development Planning and Permits and Infrastructure Planning and Permits approved by the Board of Directors on November 10, 2022, meet the requirements of the Minister’s List of classes of programs and services for which conservation authorities may charge a fee. These fee schedules remain in effect. The Minister now has the ability to issue a direction to freeze a conservation authority’s fees but has not yet done so.
Other TRCA Services Provided Through MOUs/Agreements
The recent legislative changes through Bill 23 do not affect other TRCA programs and services. Establishing MOUs with municipalities for the delivery of municipally requested services and other agreements for provision of other non-mandatory services to provincial agencies and infrastructure providers remains a requirement under the CA Act and associated regulations. We are continuing to work with our municipal partners and other partners to formalize these arrangements through MOUs and agreements where they currently do not exist. For a status update on this work, please refer to the staff report and attachment that went to the Board of Directors on November 10, 2022.
Municipal Communication
We will soon be providing a communication to our municipal and agency partners that clarifies our current understanding of the implications of Bill 23 and confirms that TRCA will continue to provide timely and quality delivery of all mandatory and non-mandatory programs and services in accordance with the Act as amended.
Ongoing Advocacy and ERO Postings
TRCA continues to work with provincial officials to try to influence related legislative, regulatory and policy proposals on the Environmental Registry of Ontario (ERO). As we complete our ERO submissions, they are posted on the TRCA Staff Hub Policy Consultations Submissions page. TRCA, Conservation Ontario and other partner organizations will, consistent with requests from other organizations including the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD), continue to advocate for the Province to reconvene the multi-sectoral Conservation Authority Working Group, that TRCA is part of, to review and provide input on draft regulations prior to their finalization.
Our discussions with municipalities, government agencies, stakeholders and the public have confirmed the vital role of TRCA in planning and infrastructure reviews. TRCA will continue to play that role, albeit with some modifications to our approach, including the scoping of non-mandatory review and commenting pursuant to the recent legislative changes. We will continue to keep staff apprised of any further updates, including timing of any enabling regulations related to the CA Act amendments through Bill 23.
Thank you all for your continued support as we adapt to these recent changes.
John MacKenzie, M.Sc.(PI) MCIP, RPP
Chief Executive Officer