Bill 60 could give Ontario's housing minister more power over cities' planning. Here's how

Ontario’s sweeping Bill 60 will consolidate planning power under the minister of housing, experts say, as the government mulls more amendments that would undercut municipalities’ roles in shaping their communities. 

Premier Doug Ford’s government tabled Bill 60, dubbed the Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, in late October, envisioning changes to the provincial planning act. In briefing notes, the province says the change will allow the minister to make “faster and more strategic decisions aimed at increasing housing supply.”

The bill has already drawn criticism from a swath of advocates and cities, concerned about its effects on the residential tenancies act.

But when it comes to the planning act, the omnibus bill would make it so the minister’s planning decisions no longer have to conform to the provincial land-use planning statement. The statement is meant to guide municipalities on meeting Ontario’s development goals, with guidance on providing a mix of housing options and protecting the environment.

“What this does is basically bypass this co-ordination, the significant expansion of ministerial discretion now is going to reduce the role, the autonomy and the policy tools of municipalities,” said Luisa Sotomayor, director of planning at the University of Toronto’s department of geography and planning. 

Sotomayor says she’s particularly concerned about long-term planning, as municipalities have carefully crafted policy to protect employment areas or environmentally sensitive lands. She said this expansion of discretion could apply to lands the province owns.

“So let’s say near GO stations or transit corridors and surplus government properties, development could be approved with no requirement for public consultation,” she said. 

In briefing notes, the province says all of the minister's planning decisions will be posted publicly “to ensure continued transparency.”

But neither the bill nor the briefing notes explicitly list what decisions the changes are meant to impact, but do reference decisions on "official plans.” Official plans are municipal documents that usually have to be approved by the province. Among other things, the plans spell out where housing, offices and shops can be.

Bryan Purcell, vice-president of policy and programs at the non-profit low-carbon investment agency the Atmospheric Fund, said the provincial planning statement creates confidence for developers around Ontario’s priorities. 

“So when we enable decisions to be made without consistency with that, then it calls into question the foundation of people's expectations,” he said. 

“It becomes something that actually gives pause to investment in housing construction because it means that people don't really know what the rules of the game are.” 

Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Rob Flack said in October that the bill will simplify the planning process. 

“This bill is a strong bill,” Flack said. “It's creating the conditions to get more homes built faster. We're creating stability. We're creating predictability in the market.”