City Comments on Provincial Bill 134 Proposed Definition of Affordable Residential Unit

Considered

• 2023-10-26 · Planning and Housing Committee · amended

  Decision as filed

  The Planning and Housing Committee recommends that: 1. City Council request the Government of Ontario to create a provincial grant or other incentive program that provides incentives to promote affordability directly to homeowners, renters or developers, instead of exemptions to development charges, community benefit charges and parkland dedication fees, which provides a different level of incentive in municipalities across the province depending on the level of fees imposed.

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  2. City Council express to the Government of Ontario its support in principle of the direction in Bill 134 to adopt an income-based approach for the definition of affordable housing which is consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement, provided that the Government: a. rely on publicly accessible, reliable and objective data for determining the income-based affordable rent and affordable purchase price to develop the "Affordable Residential Units bulletin", such as the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's Rental Market Survey and Census information published by Statistics Canada; b. ensure provincial income-based affordable rents and purchase prices take into consideration the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's National Occupancy Standard and different household incomes and sizes for different bedroom types; c. not publish the "Affordable Residential Units bulletin" until meaningful consultation with the City and stakeholders has taken place on data sources and the detailed methodology for determining average market rent, income-based affordable rent, income-based affordable purchase price and average purchase price; d. following further consultation with the City and stakeholders, the Province publish the "Affordable Residential Units bulletin" on an annual basis on a set date; e. enact legislation to ensure legal mechanisms exist to secure units created under this definition are registered on title, including securing the affordability term, depth of affordability, and tenure; f. ensure there is a process put in place to guarantee fair and equitable access to the affordable rental and ownership units and require the use of any existing municipal process; g. update Bill 23 amendments to further amend the Development Charges Act, 1997 to specify that affordable rental and ownership units that receive exemptions from municipal fees and charges must remain affordable for a minimum 50-year period, instead of 25 years as currently outlined; h. update Bill 23 amendments to further amend the Development Charges Act, 1997 and Planning Act, 1990 to provide that where an owner does not provide affordable units for the required duration or otherwise breaches its obligations, to authorize the City to add the amounts plus interest to the tax roll and to give such amounts priority lien status; i. update Bill 23 amendments to further amend the Development Charges Act,1997 to eliminate municipal development charge exemptions for "attainable residential units", and alternatively create a direct provincial grant or other Provincial incentive program for developers, renters or homeowners; and j. ensure that the proposed Provincial Planning Statement and any future provincial legislation, regulation and policy, includes an income-based definition of "affordable" consistent with the proposed definition under Bill 134. 3. City Council request the Government of Ontario to make the City whole respecting Bill 23 impacts, for all of the impacts that came into effect starting on November 28, 2022, that reimbursement include both operating impacts as well as the value of the fee reductions and exemptions provided through Bills 23 and 134, and that reimbursement commence in 2024, and continue annually thereafter. 4. City Council direct Executive Director, Housing Secretariat, in consultation with Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, to report to the Planning and Housing Committee, with any recommended changes to the Open Door Affordable Rental Housing and Home Ownership Assistance programs following Bill 134 coming into effect, by the first quater of 2024.

• 2023-11-08 · Toronto City Council · adopted