Community Benefits Charge

The City has developed a Community Benefits Charge (CBC) Study and Bylaw 66-2022 for Council consideration and was approved Sept. 14, 2022.

The CBC is a fee that helps the City pay for the growth-related capital costs of high-density development. These growth-related costs are ineligible for Development Charge (DC) funding and include, but are not limited to, services such as:

• Parking
• Municipal administration building expansion
• Cultural initiatives (e.g., museums, arts centers, public arts, heritage preservation)
• Public realm improvements (e.g. community gardens, space for non-profits)
• Parkland acquisition (in excess of parkland dedication provisions of the Planning Act)

Community Benefits Charges Strategy and Bylaw

Even though our current Community Benefits Charges (CBC) bylaw has not yet expired, the City will be updating the strategy. Staff will present the update at the public meeting on December 2, 2024 and to Council for approval on December 10, 2024.

• Community Benefits Charge Strategy (November 4, 2024)

Additional staff reports are available below:

• Development Charges and Community Benefits Strategy Process Report (F-21-23)
• Development Charges and Community Benefits Strategy draft Growth Assumptions (F-25-23)
  • Appendix A

Please contact us  with any comments or feedback on the Community Benefits Charges Strategy.

Timeline

• December 2, 2024: Public Meeting (Committee of the Whole)
• December 10, 2024: Council consideration
• January 1, 2025: Proposed bylaw effective date
• January 20, 2025: Last day for bylaw appeal

Community Benefits Charges Payable

This charge will apply to the construction or redevelopment of buildings with five or more storeys and 10 or more residential units and is based on the value of the development land the day before the building permit is issued. Property developers must pay this charge before receiving a building permit.

The amount of CBC payable is as per the table as follows, please refer to the Community Benefits Charge Bylaw 66-2022 for more information.

Exemptions and credits

The Planning Act provides for certain mandated exemptions, such as: long-term care homes, retirement homes, certain post-secondary institutions, buildings intended for use by the Royal Canadian Legion, hospices, and not-for-profit housing. Further details are in O.Reg.509/20.

Dispute Resolution

Where an owner of land is of the view that the CBC payable exceeds 4% of the value of land, the owner may pay under protest. The owner is responsible for providing an appraisal at their cost to the City in dispute of the CBC payable. Should the city disagree with the owner appraisal, the city will fund and provide an appraisal. Should the difference between the owner appraisal and the city appraisal exceed 5%, the owner will select a person from the city list of appraisers to perform a final, binding appraisal, with the owner being responsible for the cost of the appraisal. The city will maintain a list of appraisers in accordance with section 37(42) of the Planning Act for the purposes of the dispute resolution process.

At the conclusion of the dispute resolution process, any refund to the owner as a result of the difference between the final CBC payable and the amount paid under protest, will be made within 30 days without interest.

In-Kind Contributions

The City may permit in-kind contributions that provide community benefits at its sole discretion. In-kind contributions would be accepted in-lieu of the payment of the CBC otherwise applicable, in whole or in part.

• During the planning approval process, the owner may propose the provision of an in-kind contribution
• Acceptable in-kind contributions include works that are consistent with the CBC Strategy and the service categories and types of capital facilities, services and matters outlined. Projects shall be delivered at City standards, with consideration of full life cycle costs
• A value of the in-kind contribution will be attributed by the City. The contributing owner will be expected to provide any third-party valuation documents as support, which staff will review for determination of the value
• The CBC payable for the development or redevelopment will be reduced by the value that the City has attributed to the in-kind contribution. In no case will there be a refund should the value of the in-kind contribution exceed the CBC payable

Past Community Benefits Charges reports

View our Community Benefits charge strategies from the past year.

Past Reports

• F-11-21 Bill 197 Process Update

Background

In 2019 and 2020, Bill 108, the More Homes, More Choice Act replaced the prior Section 37 of the Planning Act. These changes allow municipalities to impose Community Benefits Charges on eligible high-density developments and redevelopments and paid by developers when building permits are issued. Furthermore, these charges are imposed in addition to Development Charges and Parkland Dedication/payment-in-lieu of parkland provisions of the Planning Act.

Contact

Please contact us with any questions or comments