Overview

Many policies impacting the agri-food sector are established by provincial and federal governments. But there are still plenty of decisions being made at municipal levels that can support agriculture. Land use policies, taxation and development charges, financial support and community engagement are all opportunities for municipalities to support agricultural economic development in their communities.

Municipal support is essential to agricultural economic development, and with their support, Ontario’s agriculture and agri-food businesses will continue to grow and prosper.

OFA Position

OFA continues to work with municipal councils and organizations to ensure agriculture has a strong voice on issues, legislation and regulations covered by municipal governments.

Stormwater Management Fees

The issue of Municipal Stormwater Fees has been an important topic of discussion recently. Municipalities have been introducing Stormwater Management Fee bylaws to assist with the costs of their water management systems. However, without any provincial guidance on how to calculate these fees, municipalities are adopting their own approaches to these assessments. The fees faced by farmers who have been assessed these charges, are often substantial.

OFA has recently adopted the following policy regarding these fees:

OFA believes that Stormwater Management Fees should not be applied to agricultural properties. Our agricultural lands provide many water / environmental benefits to municipalities that must be taken into account. These include, but are not limited to, absorption of stormwater through infiltration – replenishing aquifers, creeks, streams, lakes and wetlands; slowing peak flows thereby decreasing in stream erosion, and filtering contaminants.

Furthermore, we believe that Municipal Stormwater Management fees may constitute an unfair tax on farms. Municipalities must be able to clearly articulate and quantify how the fee being charged to agricultural properties correlates with a service being provided to the landowner / property. We further believe that this quantification must take into account the water/environmental benefits agricultural properties provide, as previously mentioned.

Municipal drains under the Drainage Act must be omitted from additional stormwater management fees as the landowners of the drainage watersheds are already paying for this service.