No additional regulations related to the Development Charges regime are anticipated at this time.
As you recall, Bill 108, the More Homes, More Choice Act, 2019, introduced changes to support a range and mix of housing options and boost housing supply, including creating the new community benefits charge.
Bill 197, the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Act, 2020, brought forward a number of comprehensive measures to support municipalities in the recovery from COVID-19 and help restart Ontario’s economy. It sets out the framework on how municipalities could fund community services, which includes a new regime for development charges, community benefits charges and parkland.
The framework is now in effect as of September 18th, 2020, and provides municipalities up to 2 years to transition into the regimes.
Municipalities could pass a new DC by-law or amendment to remove the 10% discount on services at any time now that the changes are in effect. The new DC by-law or the amendment could only deal with charges for the eligible services under Schedule 3 of Bill 197 (i.e. public libraries, long-term care, parks development, recreation, public health, child care, housing services, court services and by-law enforcement, emergency preparedness, growth-related costs for airports for the Region of Waterloo, and while not a listed as a service, the change clarifies the continued ability to fund the growth-related costs of studies).
If a municipality passes a CBC by-law within the two-year transition period, the DC by-law is deemed to have expired as it relates to any services that are no longer eligible under Bill 197 (i.e. a municipality would no longer be able to charge for ineligible DC services).