General Ottawa Planning Issues

[rocketphish]

Ottawa loses out on millions after missing provincial housing target
City received $37.5 million last year from Building Faster Fund, but will get zero this year

Arthur White-Crummey · CBC News
Posted: Aug 21, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 hours ago

Ottawa received more than $37 million in provincial funding last year for making a strong start on new homes — but this year, the city won't get a penny.

In an email to CBC News, the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing confirmed that Ottawa will not receive its allocation through the Building Faster Fund due to missing its 2024 target for housing starts. The lost funding was first reported by Le Droit newspaper.

The fund is meant to reward municipalities that get homes built. Ottawa's target for last year was 12,583 housing starts. But according to the provincial progress tracker, developers started construction on 7,871 homes in 2024, just 63 per cent of the target.

The city also missed its 2023 target. But the province allows municipalities to get a share of the money so long as they reach at least 80 per cent. Ottawa surpassed 93 per cent for that year and got a payout in April 2024.

Ottawa is hardly alone in missing the mark for 2024 housing starts. Of 50 municipalities listed on the progress tracker, 27 were below 80 per cent of their target.

Glen Gower, vice chair of Ottawa City Council's planning and housing committee, noted that the city has no direct control over housing starts, instead relying on private developers. The city is doing its part, he said.

"Since January 2023, the City of Ottawa has approved around 55,000 new homes for construction, but that next step of getting shovels in the ground, that's up to the development industry and they've moved slower than we would have anticipated," Gower said.

He said the Building Faster Fund money is important because it helps fund the infrastructure Ottawa needs to support housing growth.

So far, Ottawa's 2025 stats look more promising. There were 5,716 housing starts within city limits up to July of this year, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, compared with 3,243 during the same period in 2024.

Earlier this week, Rob Flack, the minister of municipal affairs and housing, signalled that changes could be coming to the program.

"As we move forward, we are going to be considering new ways to extend and improve the Building Faster Fund," he told delegates to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario convention in Ottawa. "That includes ensuring the fund reflects the new market we are in."

Flack said Ontario is facing a "very different" housing market compared to a few years ago, and blamed uncertainty for pushing buyers to stay on the sidelines.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...rget-1.7613954

[rocketphish]

Mayor willing to work with province as Ottawa misses target for housing funds
There were 7,871 new builds in Ottawa in 2024, only 62.5 per cent of its target of 12,583.

By Aedan Helmer, Ottawa Citizen
Published Aug 22, 2025 | Last updated 5 hours ago

Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said he’s ready to work with the provincial government on a solution after the city missed its target for housing construction starts and missed out on millions in funding through the Building Faster Fund.

Ontario’s Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing confirmed Ottawa is one of 27 municipalities in the province that fell short of its target and will not qualify for a share of the funding.

Of the 50 municipalities tracked by the province, only 15 met or exceeded their provincially-mandated targets, while another eight are listed as “on track” at more than 80 per cent of their annual target for new builds.

Sutcliffe referenced recent remarks from Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Rob Flack, who suggested he and the province might consider “new ways to extend and improve” the fund.

“We’ll continue to invest in affordable housing with our partners,” Sutcliffe said in French during an Aug. 21 press conference. “I heard that (Flack) said maybe instead of basing the funds on figures by each (individual) city, there is a better way to distribute money across cities in the province. I’m ready to work with Rob and the provincial government to find solutions for Ottawa residents. Maybe in the near future there will be changes to that program.”

Sutcliffe said he’s optimistic with the figures for new builds so far in 2025, despite economic challenges in the Canadian construction industry.

Housing starts have been up 68 per cent so far in 2025, compared to the same period in 2024, Sutcliffe said.

“That’s way above the national average of 4 per cent. There’s a lot more work to do to make housing affordable and accessible, and improve and accelerate the approval process,” he said in a social media post.

Flack spoke in Ottawa recently at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference and suggested the provincial government could reconsider how those funds are allocated.

“As we move forward, as we look to the future here, we’re going to be considering new ways to extend and improve the Building Faster Fund,” Flack told delegates on Aug. 19.

“That includes ensuring the fund reflects the new markets we are in, as well as encouraging municipalities to cut development charges and get shovels in the ground on key infrastructure projects.”

He told AMO delegates to “stay tuned for more details” following consultation with the AMO and Ontario’s big-city mayors.

The province is in a “generational housing crisis,” Flack said, and the fund rewards municipalities that are getting homes built faster.

“Now is the time to build,” he said. “We cannot sit idly by while our costs go up. For every new home delayed, an electrician, a plumber, a carpenter and a labourer goes home. This is not good enough.”

According to annual data collected by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, there were 5,716 new dwellings constructed in Ottawa as of July. That number was at 3,243 at the same point in 2024.

There were 7,871 new builds in Ottawa in 2024, only 62.5 per cent of its target of 12,583.

Ottawa fell just shy of its target in 2023, but still qualified for $37.5 million in provincial funding for exceeding 80 per cent of the goal, breaking ground on 10,313 homes that year.

“That’s 10,313 families that are going to have a roof over their heads. I find that absolutely amazing,” Ford said in April 2024 as he presented the mayor and city councillors with an oversized cheque.

“These funds can be used by the city for community development and infrastructure projects that lay the groundwork for more housing.”

The Building Faster Fund is a three-year, $1.2-billion fund to be doled out to municipalities that reach at least 80 per cent of their annual new housing targets.

The government’s More Homes Built Faster Act of 2022 set a target of 1.5 million new homes in Ontario by 2031. Ottawa’s share of that is 151,000, which was the target city council committed to in March 2023.

According to provincial data, there have been 28,641 new builds in Ottawa since the legislation was enacted in 2022.

[email protected]

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/mayor...m_source=index

[J.OT13]

The Market has slowed down. That's hardly the City's fault.

[Williamoforange]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

The Market has slowed down. That's hardly the City's fault.

Demand hasn't really changed, and the city is responsible for numerous other things which are contributing to the slowing of construction of housing.

A non-exhaustive list of things the city could have done to spur housing construction:

1. Speed up the official plan process
2. Speed up the implementation of the new zoning bylaw
3. Make sure the new zoning bylaw actually matches the official plan (it doesn't staff admit this)
4. Reduce dev fees (instead they increased them dramatically)
5. Create a playing process that actually sped up approved instead of fudging numbers by creating a pre-approval system, against the spirit of the changes by the province.

The city is in no form or function a good faith actors in this situation.

So yeah the city should not get any money from this program just as Toronto& Ottawa should not get any money from the federal housing program.

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by Williamoforange

Demand hasn't really changed, and the city is responsible for numerous other things which are contributing to the slowing of construction of housing.

A non-exhaustive list of things the city could have done to spur housing construction:

1. Speed up the official plan process
2. Speed up the implementation of the new zoning bylaw
3. Make sure the new zoning bylaw actually matches the official plan (it doesn't staff admit this)
4. Reduce dev fees (instead they increased them dramatically)
5. Create a playing process that actually sped up approved instead of fudging numbers by creating a pre-approval system, against the spirit of the changes by the province.

The city is in no form or function a good faith actors in this situation.

So yeah the city should not get any money from this program just as Toronto& Ottawa should not get any money from the federal housing program.

Totally agree and especially #4 and #5. The lack of self awareness by City Planning staff that they are part of the slowdown is alarming

[rocketphish]

Ontario could change how municipalities qualify for housing fund amid market 'standstill'
Housing Minister Rob Flack says province in talks with municipalities, critics say changes won't solve crisis

Shawn Jeffords · CBC News
Posted: Aug 27, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 6 hours ago

Ontario's housing minister says he is open to changing a billion-dollar fund designed to reward municipalities building new homes, but critics say even the tweaks he's contemplating won't get shovels in the ground.

Housing Minister Rob Flack said this week that the Ford government is in talks with municipalities to change the Building Faster Fund at a time when new home construction has slowed and the province faces a "generational housing crisis."

"We have seen the housing market come to a standstill," Flack said. "Potential new home buyers have hit the pause button."

The minister recently promised municipal leaders that the government would sit down with them to discuss the criteria to qualify for the annual fund, something dozens of communities across the province were not able to qualify for last year. They say basing the qualifying criteria on housing starts, which they don't control, is unfair and should instead be based on building permit approvals, which are a civic responsibility.

Flack said he's open to expanded or changed criteria to include building permits, but the fund must still deliver housing.

"I want to make sure I say this respectfully … permits are not homes," he said. "Yes, we can issue permits, but we want to see real results."

<more>

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toron...nges-1.7618323

[Williamoforange]

It's a statement to the incompetence of both planning committee and planning staff that it required an amendment to make sure that N1 & N2 zoning was the same both inside & outside of the greenbelt.... An error that was caught externally by actors like mike moffat, only for it to be downplayed by left-wing actors in the city.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...belt-1.7620228

[rocketphish]

'Pain points' found by city audit into sluggish housing development process
Ottawa had no dedicated lawyer for reviewing development applications until this month

Ben Andrews, Nathan Fung · CBC News
Posted: Sep 13, 2025 2:15 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

Despite "immense pressure" to build more housing in Ottawa, a city audit has found that key parts of the development process are getting slower.

"Bottlenecks" and "inconsistent expectations" across city departments are contributing to a ballooning timeline from when developments are approved by the city to when they're eventually registered with the province, according to a report discussed at the city's audit committee Friday.

That sluggish post-approval process comes at no small cost, as the audit found delays can cause construction and administrative expenses for developers to pile up — limiting housing builds and potentially driving prices higher.

"It's really important to get these homes built as soon as possible and ensure that the affordability of these homes isn't impacted," said Nathalie Gougeon, the city's auditor general, in an interview.

Gougeon's report looked at the city's process for reviewing development applications and its ability to manage them effectively.

It keyed in on what the city calls the "post-approval agreement development stage." That's the period of time between when a development earns the city's stamp of approval and when it gets registered with the Land Registry Office of Ontario.

During that period, the city's legal team helps write and execute legal agreements with the developer before a project is submitted for registration.

It's a "crucial" part of the development process, according to the auditor's report, because it draws up legally binding obligations for the developer while often serving as a prerequisite to unlock funding.

But until this month, the city had no dedicated solicitors who focused exclusively on development agreements — in contrast to established practice at some other municipalities.

"According to developers, delays in the agreement process have been one of the most significant pain points and can cause housing development closings to be missed," the report said.

For projects registered last year, the report found the post-approval period lasted an average of 649 days, more than double the 284-day average in 2022.

The timeline for subdivision plans was likewise up, reaching an average of 1,319 days. In both cases, the report noted that the figures are averages and are pulled up by outliers.

Gougeon said she recognizes developments are becoming more complex, as previously undeveloped land becomes scarcer and complicated builds in existing urban areas became more common.

Nonetheless, she said internal legal issues are also contributing to delays.

"We've issued recommendations with regards to performing a resourcing analysis to ensure that the right individuals are put in place in order to help speed up that timeline," Gougeon said.

The report made seven recommendations, including that the city solicitor should perform a resourcing analysis to accelerate the registration process, formally define and communicate expectations for agreements and start tracking applications post-approval.

City solicitor Stuart Huxley told the committee that starting this month, the city's legal services department now has two lawyers dedicated to reviewing development agreements.

"We'll evaluate that process to get through this bottleneck and reduce the turnaround times," he said.

Gougeon's report also found that subject matter experts are challenged to consistently provide complete feedback due to shortened timelines from legislation meant to hasten developments.

The report's other recommendations include ensuring that key subject matter experts are consulted throughout the application process and are adequately resourced and that comments from internal and external stakeholders during the review process should be documented.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...udit-1.7632804

[Williamoforange]

Well look at that, it did seem that there are things the city could have done to get more housing built.....

5 years since housing emergency, and this city still can't get is act together, nvm that planning committee is about to approve a plan that in no way meets the requirements as at by the official plan.

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by Williamoforange

Well look at that, it did seem that there are things the city could have done to get more housing built.....

5 years since housing emergency, and this city still can't get is act together, nvm that planning committee is about to approve a plan that in no way meets the requirements as at by the official plan.

Those legal department delays are ridiculous and I've run into them daily in my job and there seems to be no acknowledgement of what the reason is or any apology until now they say they have dedicated staff for the role.

[Williamoforange]

Looks like Sutcliffe might actual do something regarding housing and the currently bad plan endorsed by planning committee. Hopefully this passes through council even if it requires the mayor to his strong mayor powers

https://www.ctvnews.ca/ottawa/articl...n-development/

https://ottawa.ca/en/city-hall/city-...ng-action-plan





https://ottawa.ca/en/planning-develo...3-2eef260dde48

[Richard Eade]

Cynic alert!
I’m sure that it has nothing to do with missing out on $37M from the Province because there were so few housing starts in Ottawa last year. This year, the Mayor says that he is willing to give up a few million to increase the number of housing starts. Oddly, he didn’t frame it as getting a bigger pay-back from the Province – especially if some upper level of government says that they will also cover some reductions in development fees.

I have no problem with the City trying to maximize the pay-outs from upper levels of government, but the City should be honest about it. This is not a ‘gift’ from the City. It is a maneuver to maximize income.

This is the City that is so short on money that it says that it needs to start charging $0.55 per transaction if you have Pre-Authorized Debit (PAD) set up so that the City gets its taxes on time. Despite NO OTHER government at any level adding a charge for PAD payments, Ottawa claims that it needs to recoup the cost. Claiming also that PAD offers NO BENEFIT to the City and is only an extra service for certain tax-payer – so they need to pay for that extra service. (Meanwhile, my cell-phone provider gives me a $5 discount each month for having PAD set up with them. Maybe they are seeing a benefit that the City has overlooked?)

[Williamoforange]

And like normal the city slow walks even the softest of changes

Community benefit charge should have been eliminated, as that's what Dev charges cover.

https://www.ottawa.ca/en/city-hall/c...housing-crisis

[rocketphish]

Councillors cancel fee refund in final tweaks to major housing plan
Plan streamlines city approval process, gives developers a break on fees

Ben Andrews · CBC News
Posted: Oct 08, 2025 6:10 PM EDT | Last Updated: 5 hours ago

Cancelling a refund to developers was among the final tweaks councillors made to a major city housing plan billed by the mayor as an effort to make Ottawa the "most housing-friendly city in Canada."

Council gave its final stamp of approval Wednesday to Ottawa’s housing acceleration plan, which lays out 53 recommendations for how the city can help get homes built faster and for less.

"When you look at the sum total of this housing plan, I think it’s an excellent and giant step forward," Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said after the meeting.

The plan is based on the work of a task force composed mostly of representatives from the real estate development and construction sectors. It aims to speed up new housing projects by streamlining the city’s approval process, and reducing or delaying some fees paid by developers.

Councillors expressed nearly unanimous support for the suite of reforms, passing all but one of the recommendations unchanged.

They did raise concerns that financial breaks for developers, designed to spur new builds, could come at the expense of neighbourhood livability.

"I see a lot in this plan that there is to like," said Coun. Shawn Menard. "I do worry about further going down this path. Over time, we are seeing governments subsidize for-profit developers, to give more public money."

At a joint planning and finance committee meeting last week, councillors zeroed in on one recommendation that would have nixed the city’s community benefits charge for five years.

The charge is a fee paid by developers that helps support public amenities ranging from park improvements to traffic calming measures.

Rather than drop the fee altogether, councillors voted to reduce it from four per cent of the land’s value to two per cent, and even lower in high-transit areas.

On Wednesday, Coun. Ariel Troster moved to reverse a proposed refund of the benefits charges that had already been collected by the city for projects that are underway.

"It didn’t make any sense as far as I was concerned to return the money [to developers]," Troster said. "That money has been allocated to projects that are set to go forward in many different wards in the city."

The city says it has collected about $1.6 million in community benefits charges from 10 developments.

The money hasn’t been spent but is earmarked for four different projects related to a mix of parks and traffic, according to Marcia Wallace, the city’s general manager of planning.

Troster said projects such as those are important, calling the housing plan "a pretty unprecedented subsidy program" for private developers.

But even councillors who expressed reservations were willing to stomach the risks in an effort to shake up a sluggish system.

Coun. Jeff Leiper, who chairs the city’s planning committee, said the city’s housing approval process has become "ossified" over the last decade, mired in "red tape" and "micro-management."

Sutcliffe read out loud from a full paper of positive feedback he had received on the plan.

"Not very often that we see that kind of support from across the spectrum — from people who are working on homelessness in our community, to people who are working on affordable housing, to people who are building market homes," he said.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...plan-9.6932296

[Williamoforange]

Of course troster, Menard, & Leiper think changing immigrants and new residents alone for community assets is somehow a subsidy for developers.

Noting here it ain't developers that are paying, and that if it could be attributed to new housing then it would be covered by dev charges for parkland, and also the city requires devs to either hand over land or pay a fee for more parkland.

And got to laugh at Leipers comments considering the fool is one of the more red tape & micromanagement councilors in regards to new housing.

[rocketphish]

The notion that outdated bylaws and building codes hamper the ability to provide more livable housing is not a new idea or debate, but this article describes the issue really well in a visual way:

The era of the shoebox condo is over
Canada needs livable apartments to help fix the housing crisis. To do that, it must change the rulebook for both condos and rentals

By Erica Alini, The Globe and Mail
Published November 1, 2025

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/inve...ebook-housing/

[rocketphish]

Ottawa expects to lose out on provincial housing money for 2nd straight year
Planning staff say there's little chance the city will come close to provincial housing targets this year

Arthur White-Crummey · CBC News
Posted: Nov 19, 2025 5:22 PM EST | Last Updated: November 19

City planning staff expect Ottawa will fall far short of provincial housing targets this year, and they’re already assuming it will cost the city tens of millions of dollars in lost funding.

That revelation came Wednesday as council’s planning and housing committee debated the 2026 draft municipal budget, which doesn’t include any revenue from the province’s Building Faster Fund (BFF).

The fund requires cities to meet at least 80 per cent of targets for housing starts. Last year Ottawa fell short, reaching only 62.5 per cent of the 12,500 homes required, and the province didn’t pay out any money.

This year, the city is doing better. The latest Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation data shows starts were above 7,900 as of the end of October, or 22 per cent higher than the same time last year.

But Marcia Wallace, the city’s general manager of planning, development and building services, says the target this year is higher — about 15,000 housing starts — and the building season is running short.

<more>

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...year-9.6985271

[rocketphish]

Bill 60 could give Ontario's housing minister more power over cities' planning. Here's how
Experts say changes meant to speed up homebuilding may create uncertainty in the industry

Lane Harrison · CBC News
Posted: Nov 20, 2025 4:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 24 minutes ago

Ontario’s sweeping Bill 60 will consolidate planning power under the minister of housing, experts say, as the government mulls more amendments that would undercut municipalities’ roles in shaping their communities.

Premier Doug Ford’s government tabled Bill 60, dubbed the Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, in late October, envisioning changes to the provincial planning act. In briefing notes, the province says the change will allow the minister to make “faster and more strategic decisions aimed at increasing housing supply.”

The bill has already drawn criticism from a swath of advocates and cities, concerned about its effects on the residential tenancies act.

But when it comes to the planning act, the omnibus bill would make it so the minister’s planning decisions no longer have to conform to the provincial land-use planning statement. The statement is meant to guide municipalities on meeting Ontario’s development goals, with guidance on providing a mix of housing options and protecting the environment.

“What this does is basically bypass this co-ordination, the significant expansion of ministerial discretion now is going to reduce the role, the autonomy and the policy tools of municipalities,” said Luisa Sotomayor, director of planning at the University of Toronto’s department of geography and planning.

Sotomayor says she’s particularly concerned about long-term planning, as municipalities have carefully crafted policy to protect employment areas or environmentally sensitive lands. She said this expansion of discretion could apply to lands the province owns.

“So let’s say near GO stations or transit corridors and surplus government properties, development could be approved with no requirement for public consultation,” she said.

<more>

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toron...ning-9.6984837

[Williamoforange]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

Bill 60 could give Ontario's housing minister more power over cities' planning. Here's how
Experts say changes meant to speed up homebuilding may create uncertainty in the industry

Lane Harrison · CBC News
Posted: Nov 20, 2025 4:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 24 minutes ago

Ontario’s sweeping Bill 60 will consolidate planning power under the minister of housing, experts say, as the government mulls more amendments that would undercut municipalities’ roles in shaping their communities.

Premier Doug Ford’s government tabled Bill 60, dubbed the Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, in late October, envisioning changes to the provincial planning act. In briefing notes, the province says the change will allow the minister to make “faster and more strategic decisions aimed at increasing housing supply.”

The bill has already drawn criticism from a swath of advocates and cities, concerned about its effects on the residential tenancies act.

But when it comes to the planning act, the omnibus bill would make it so the minister’s planning decisions no longer have to conform to the provincial land-use planning statement. The statement is meant to guide municipalities on meeting Ontario’s development goals, with guidance on providing a mix of housing options and protecting the environment.

“What this does is basically bypass this co-ordination, the significant expansion of ministerial discretion now is going to reduce the role, the autonomy and the policy tools of municipalities,” said Luisa Sotomayor, director of planning at the University of Toronto’s department of geography and planning.

Sotomayor says she’s particularly concerned about long-term planning, as municipalities have carefully crafted policy to protect employment areas or environmentally sensitive lands. She said this expansion of discretion could apply to lands the province owns.

“So let’s say near GO stations or transit corridors and surplus government properties, development could be approved with no requirement for public consultation,” she said.

<more>

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toron...ning-9.6984837

“So let’s say near GO stations or transit corridors and surplus government properties, development could be approved with no requirement for public consultation,” she said.


That sounds good to me, getting the fools at Ottawa planning department and on council out of the picture is a good thing.

On another note: Miller's is likely closing soon.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/ottawa/articl...ng-operations/