On April 10, 2024, the Province of Ontario introduced
the Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act, 2024,
which proposes a number of amendments to the Planning
Act and related legislation that would, if enacted,
bring yet further changes to a land use planning system that has
been in a near-constant state of flux for almost 6 years.
Among other things, the legislation, known as Bill 185, would
prohibit appeals of official plan and zoning amendments (including
municipally-initiated amendments), eliminate the fee refund regime
the Province brought into effect in 2023, and eliminate certain
development charge (DC) discounts introduced in 2022.
The key proposed changes are described in more detail below.
