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ARTICLE · 17 DECEMBER 2018

Bill 66 – Expanded Municipal Zoning Power Would Make Some Environmental Land Use Policies Optional

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On December 6th, 2018, Bill 66, Restoring Ontario's Competitiveness Act, 2018, passed first reading in the Ontario legislature.

CanadaEnvironment
Michael Connell
Michael Connell
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On December 6th, 2018, Bill 66, Restoring Ontario's Competitiveness Act, 2018, passed first reading in the Ontario legislature.

The government's Proposal Summary on the Environmental Registry indicates that the Bill is intended to "stimulate business investment, create good jobs, and make Ontario more competitive by cutting unnecessary regulations that are inefficient, inflexible or out of date"

Among the Bill's many proposed legislative changes are amendments to the municipal zoning by-law powers under section 34 of the Planning Act (Schedule 10 of the Bill). Currently, a municipal council's zoning discretion is significantly circumscribed by a complex suite of policies and protections, including environmental policies, to which zoning decisions must comply.

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