On Jan. 1, 2022 amendments to the Ontario Planning
Act were proclaimed. As a result of these
amendments, a good number of unfortunate traps have been done away
with.
A prominent feature of the Planning Act is
that a conveyance in contravention of its subdivision control
provisions is deemed to have no effect. This is
true regardless of whether the contravention is a true affront to
the planning principles that the Planning Act is
intended to address, or if the contravention is simply a technical
error with no true planning implications.
With these new provisions under the Planning Act,
property owners (and their lawyers) are able to save themselves a
great deal of time and expense – both in correcting technical
contraventions, and in avoiding convoluted conveyancing practices
that are no longer necessary.