OFA provides comments to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing regarding proposed Development Charges Act changes (the proposed More Homes for Everyone Act, 2022). OFA fully supports the proposed changes outlined in Schedule 2 of Bill 109, increasing transparency while having no significant impact on the municipal sector. Every day, prime agricultural land is lost to non-agricultural uses like housing and commercial developments and aggregate extraction. Development charges are a financial tool that can be adjusted to provide incentives to help keep farmland in production but in turn, provide a disincentive for farmers to reinvest in their farm operation. To create the financial incentives necessary to support the protection of agricultural land, farm buildings/structures should be exempt from development charges. OFA requests that the Development Charges Act be amended to provide a statutory exemption to farm buildings/structures from all development charges.
Submissions & Correspondence
OFA submission to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing regarding proposed Development Charges Act changes
Updated: April 26, 2022