Author(s):
Chris Barnett
Jul 9, 2020
On July 8, the provincial government introduced Bill 197 the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Act. It is an omnibus bill which proposes to amend 20 statutes as part of the government’s effort to stimulate the economy. Included in the Bill are the results of its consultation on development charges and community benefit charges which were part of Bill 108. Bill 108 had proposed sweeping changes to the way in which the costs associated with development were calculated and collected by municipalities. Bill 197 proposes to repeal large parts of Bill 108’s changes. Key changes proposed are:
- An alternative rate for the calculation of parkland dedication will be permitted, but the by-laws setting those rates can be appealed;
- Development charges will be allowed to include ‘soft’ services such as child care, affordable housing and emergency preparedness. Bill 108 had scaled back development charges to hard services;
- DC eligible services will no longer be subject to a 10% discount;
- Community benefit charges (CBC) will only apply to developments of more than 5 storeys or 10 or more units;
- CBCs can include the costs of development charge eligible services or parkland, but those costs can only be recovered once
Osler has prepared a detailed update. View more information on the changes.
DC Act Bill 197 - Blackline
Planning Act Bill 197 first reading extracts - Blackline