PH18.10-City Planning and Development Review Divisions-Study Work Program Update - Letter - March 22, 2025

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Paura

Letter dated January 22, 2025 to the Planning and Housing Committee addressing the PH18.10 Study Work Program update. The Federation of North Toronto Residents’ Associations (FoNTRA) argues that legislative changes under Bill 23, 108, 109, 138, 185 and 212 have compressed timelines and increased appeals pressure. It calls for prioritizing studies, plans and guidelines that revitalize and protect neighbourhood character, citing heritage planning impacts and delays from 2020 to 2025.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages7

Reading Time18 min

AccessFree to download

Study Work Program Update

Legislative change impacts and workload pressure

Housing supply focus for 2025

Alignment between planning streams and divisional structure

2020 to 2025 heritage planning trends

Policy tools and neighborhood impacts

Recommendations and prioritization request

January 22, 2025 10th floor, West Tower, City Hall 100 Queen Street West Toronto, ON M5H 2N2 Attention: Nancy Martins RE: PH18.10-City Planning and Development Review Divisions-Study Work Program Update Dear Chair, Councillor Gord Perks, and Members, Planning and Housing Committee , The Federation of North Toronto Residents’Associations (FoNTRA) understands the importance of a pro-active planning function to the long-term health of the whole City, ensuring thriving and complete communities. Despite the ever shifting legislative landscape, the Study Work Program is a vital tool in maintaining positive direction amid ongoing pressures and change. City Planning has faced the biggest threat to its ability to manage development applications with the province’s legislative changes for planning and heritage under Bill 23, Bill 108, Bill 109, Bill 138, Bill 185, Bill 212. Meeting the compressed processing deadlines for regular applications and preparing for hearings following an increased number of planning appeals has put pressure on the essential City-wide and area planning agenda. The Study Work Program has been heavily affected by the requirement to update and advise Council on the impacts of legislative change, and adjust policy accordingly. One would only wish that the herculean effort required by the City to understand and adjust to the tsunami of change was reciprocated by the Province in making timely decisions following the City’s response. The MTSA jobs and employment definition reports is a good example – two and a half years after the City met the provincially imposed deadline, you are still waiting for a decision on inclusive zoning! The 2025 Study Work Program captures a range of city building activities, with an emphasis on those that will support an increase in the supply of housing, including more affordable housing, as part of an integrated approach to building complete and inclusive communities. City planning activities basically consist of two streams: creating plans (the Study Work Program), and review of development applications (development review), which are somewhat, but incompletely, aligned in the new Divisions. The Study Work Program, which includes such activities as Official Plan Reviews, Secondary Plans, Zoning By-law Updates, Heritage Conservation District (HCD) Studies, Community Heritage Resource Assessments (CHRA) and Design Guidelines, is critical in order to advance the City’s strategic priorities, and develop and review policy to ensure an appropriate response to development applications. It is also vital in dealing with a provincial government that does not respect the authority and jurisdiction of the City. The development of secondary plans that take transportation and other required infrastructure needs into account, along with the availability of parkland, schools, social service requirements, heritage studies, zoning reviews, and neighbourhoodspecific Design Guidelines are critical. It is important to get ahead of development applications with completed plans, as demonstrated in both Midtown (OPA 405) and Downtown (OPA 406) , even if they do get “up-zoned” by the Province. However, examination of the Study Work Program updates from 2020 to 2025 does reveal some concerning trends. The waiting list for studies and plans is long, and getting longer. This trend appears to be especially true for heritage related studies, including HCD studies/plans, and CHRAs, and City-Wide and Area Guidelines. We have compiled the Study Work Program data for 2020 to 2025 for these categories by status (Completed, Forecast, Active and Hold) using the update reports-see attached. This summary chart of activity in Heritage Planning indicates that several studies have fallen back from Active to Hold, continue to be on Hold, and several more have disappeared. Heritage studies are important to assist in maintaining the physical and cultural character of communities. The 2024 results included t

FAQs

What issue does the letter raise regarding the Study Work Program?

The letter argues that the Study Work Program and related planning work have been heavily affected by legislative changes, creating compressed deadlines, increased appeals workload, and delayed decisions. It also highlights growing waitlists for studies and plans, especially heritage-related work.

Which legislative bills are referenced as affecting planning responsibilities?

The letter references Bill 23, Bill 108, Bill 109, Bill 138, Bill 185, and Bill 212 as drivers of legislative and administrative pressures on planning and heritage work.

What recommendation does FoNTRA make to the City Planning and Development Review Divisions?

FoNTRA recommends prioritizing Studies, Plans and Guidelines directed to city building that revitalize and protect neighbourhood character, including HCDs, CHRAs, and Neighbourhood Guidelines.

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Paura