City asks Ontario to extend heritage property deadline from 2027 to 2030

Planning and Housing Committee · 2026-07-16 · 2026.PH32.20

City asks Ontario to extend heritage property deadline from 2027 to 2030

Toronto's heritage properties face automatic removal from municipal registers on January 1, 2027, unless formally designated under the Ontario Heritage Act. About 4,000 Toronto properties and 21,000 across Ontario are affected. Councillor Matlow moved a motion asking the province to grant a three-year extension and asking the mayor to coordinate with other municipalities and AMO on the request.

adoptedPlanning and Housing Committee · Thu, Jul 16On the Toronto City Council agenda for 2026-07-29provincial decision

Who did what

Councillor Josh Matlow (Ward 12) movedMoved motion requesting three-year extension from province and coordination with GTA municipalities and AMO

From the floor

“The provincial government has made a decision to forcefully remove heritage listed properties and make it very very difficult to ensure that there is a reasonable time frame to be able to consider whether or not these properties be fully designated”Councillor Josh Matlow (Ward 12)

“There is a in my opinion a very false narrative that sometimes ensues in these debates over planning between the need for housing and progress and ensuring that there is adequate housing supply and protecting what we also love and value. I believe that good planning can accommodate both.”Councillor Josh Matlow (Ward 12)

“The story of Toronto goes back thousands of years. And you know even the you know the first peoples who walked these lands I walk along Davenport which was an indigenous trail it was actually on the shore of the ancient lake Irakqua.”Councillor Josh Matlow (Ward 12)

Also in this item

• About 4,000 Toronto heritage properties currently listed on the municipal register will be automatically removed on January 1, 2027 unless formally designated under the Ontario Heritage Act; 21,000 properties across Ontario face the same deadline.

• Properties that lose listing status cannot be re-listed for another five years, making the January 1, 2027 deadline effectively permanent for undesignated properties.

• The province previously extended the deadline from January 1, 2025 to January 1, 2027 through Bill 200 (Homeowner Protection Act, 2024), citing housing affordability pressures.

The journey

Thu, Jul 16 · Planning and Housing Committee · adopted

Wed, Jul 29 · Toronto City Council · scheduled, not yet heard

→ referred onward

You can still act

On the Toronto City Council agenda for 2026-07-29

No deputation window or comment period noted in the transcript. This is a request to the province; residents could contact their MPP or attend any future city council vote on this motion.

Decision

Motion moved by Councillor Matlow requesting the province extend the Ontario Heritage Act designation deadline from January 1, 2027 to January 1, 2030. The motion also requests the mayor coordinate with GTA municipalities and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario to seek the extension and forward the item to them for information.

Watch it happen

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Why is this story here?

ContainedThe motion is a request to the province, not a binding city decision. Toronto City Council has no authority to change provincial law. The outcome depends entirely on provincial action. However, the substance, whether 4,000 Toronto buildings are protected or demolished, is substantial. Scoring the motion itself rather than the provincial deadline: the motion is a lobbying effort, bounded in scope and reversible without cost, so it ranks as real-but-contained.Touches a narrow groupHeritage preservation is important to some residents and neighbourhoods, but the January 1, 2027 deadline has not yet forced any demolitions and no individual resident faces an immediate effect this week. The motion is about securing a future extension, not about a present change to daily life. Heritage property owners and preservationists are directly affected by the deadline; the broader public experiences this indirectly through the loss of cultural landmarks. The issue affects a recognizable group but at one remove from immediate daily experience.

Stories are ordered by how much weight a decision carries and how directly it reaches daily life. They rise as a decision date approaches and fall as they age.

Official title: Expiry Date for Protection of Heritage Properties Listed Under the Ontario Heritage Act · meeting video