According to the Ontario Association of Architects (OAA), municipalities in Ontario are taking too long to process site plan applications, delays which cost the province $3.5 billion a year,
These delays also result in lost property tax revenue the longer the properties sit vacant or underutilized. As these delays persist, they can also cost the homebuyer, who could be on the hook for higher development charges passed along from the developer.
The recently released report undertaken by Altus Group on behalf of OAA outlines that municipalities are taking an average of 23 months to review site plan applications, which exceeds the provincially mandated 60-day window. The data was sourced from permit data, email surveys, and municipal studies, with research being conducted between June and December of 2024. OAA conducted its own analysis.
This is the third report the OAA has undertaken on site plan delay issues, a follow-up report on the 2013 and 2018 reports, which monitor changes to the Planning Act, which impacts site plans. Changes made to the site plan process with the passage of Bill 23, the More Homes Built Faster Act, necessitated the update.
A site plan review is one of five required approvals before an application can reach the building permit stage and deals with the building layout, massing, access, parking and landscaping. “These delays are having significant financial repercussions. For a 100-unit apartment building, site plan holdups result in additional monthly costs ranging from $230,000 to $299,000, placing further strain on developers and homeowners alike,” says the report. “Every additional month a development application sits in the site plan review process represents a delay in the time the development would reach completion and come to market.”
The organization is calling for policy reform to reduce housing-related delays and mitigate any unnecessary related costs. Among its key recommendations are to extend the site plan exemption, as defined under a section of the Planning Act, for projects between 10 and 30 residential units and for the creation of accessory residential units by amending a Planning Act regulation to increase the number of dwelling units allowed on a residential lot from three to five. They also need to do more to reinforce the 60-day timelines.
“Meaningful policy changes are necessary to ensure municipalities adhere to deadlines and build the housing supply Ontarians urgently need,” says OAA president Ted Wilson.
