Clark: municipalities will be 'kept whole' for Bill 23 fee losses
“We are committing to ensuring municipalities are kept whole for any impact to their ability to fund housing enabling infrastructure because of Bill 23.”
Steve Clark, · Letter to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario
What happened · Jun 6, 2024
The province cancelled the audits meant to measure losses and never paid dollar-for-dollar compensation; in 2024 it reversed part of the Bill 23 fee cuts, which municipalities said helped but did not make them whole.
Clark's November 30, 2022 letter promised audits of select municipalities and said there should be no infrastructure funding shortfall 'provided municipalities achieve and exceed their housing pledge levels and growth targets.' Audits of six municipalities began in summer 2023, but the province cancelled them without releasing the results and refused a freedom-of-information request for them. Bill 185 (Royal Assent June 6, 2024) eliminated Bill 23's five-year phase-in of development charge rates and restored studies as chargeable costs. Mississauga, Newmarket and Peel Region told Global News in May 2024 that the changes did not fully make them whole. Housing Minister Paul Calandra cited the $1.8-billion infrastructure fund and the $1.2-billion Building Faster Fund as addressing municipal needs.