The bill comes with a host of policy changes, including ones that make it easier for municipalities to expand their boundaries
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article originally appeared on The Trillium, a new Village Media website devoted to covering provincial politics at Queen’s Park.
Bill 97 also proposes to merge the provincial policy statement and the Greater Golden Horseshoe growth plan. The GGH growth plan and provincial policy statement are two documents used to guide planning in the province on things like density, urban growth areas, employment centres, and more. They’re meant to facilitate growth in a way that mitigates potentially harmful environmental, economic, and health impacts.
The proposed language in the new document doesn’t mean the province is single-handedly ending restrictive zoning laws, according to a briefing provided to reporters by civil servants. That would require actual bylaw changes, whereas the policy statement sets direction at a higher level. Clark has forced municipalities to expand their boundaries before, even over the objections of local councils. Last year, after introducing Bill 23, the Ford government approved the official plans of Hamilton and Halton while also expanding their urban boundaries over the city councils’ objections.
The government’s projections show housing starts for the next three years will hover around 80,000 — just over half of what’s needed on an annual basis to reach its goal — despite historic starts in 2021 and 2022.
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