OFA provided comments to the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH) regarding the proposed legislative amendments to the Municipal Act, 2001 and City of Toronto Act, 2006 to streamline the province’s process for granting exemptions to municipalities to support provincial investment attraction.

OFA appreciates the government’s efforts to increase business investment in Ontario and supports the initiative to make Ontario more competitive in attracting new businesses. We commend the proposal’s targeted approach, which allows for exemptions on a case-by-case basis, potentially increasing the effectiveness of these incentives. However, we urge caution in selecting which businesses receive such incentives to minimize detrimental impacts on the existing tax base and avoid exacerbating fiscal strains on municipalities.

OFA’s key recommendations are:

• Exercise rigorous selection in authorizing tax incentives to ensure that they are genuinely effective, equitable and have minimal impact on the existing tax base.
• Utilize these tools during investment attraction initiatives to achieve the goals in the Grow Ontario agri-food strategy.
• Broaden the scope of the amendments to include provisions for supporting existing businesses critical to Ontario’s agri-food sector, such as local abattoirs.