LATEST STORIES:

Ontario passes housing bill despite criticism from cities, conservation authorities

Share this story...

The Ontario government has passed a controversial bill Monday intended to promote housing development.

Many groups have criticized the bill saying it will leave municipalities short billions of dollars, spike property taxes and decrease the role of conservation authorities.

One of the most contentious aspects of the bill is freezing, lowering and exempting fees developers pay.

Those fees go to municipalities and are then used to pay for services to support new homes, such as road and sewer infrastructure and community centres.

READ MORE: Ontario housing minister defends Ford governments plan to cut development charges

The Association of Municipalities of Ontario says the changes could leave municipalities short $5 billion and see taxpayers paying the bill in the form of higher property taxes or service cuts. It also says the bill cannot guarantee improved housing affordability.

The legislation also limits the areas conservation authorities can consider in development permissions, removing factors such as conservation of the land and pollution.

Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark says the province is in a housing crisis and the measures in the new law are needed to ensure Ontario can achieve its goal of building 1.5 million homes in 10 years.

READ MORE: Ontario provides more ‘strong mayor’ powers to Ottawa, Toronto