Articles 2023

Case summary of the Annapolis and Halifax saga, where the Supreme Court of Canada has the opportunity to consider the law of "de facto" expropriation.

Overview of the status of Toronto's OPA 524, its designation of PMTSAs, and the interplay with the City's Inclusionary Zoning By-law.

Discussion of the potential implications of the More Homes for Everyone Act on development of long-term care homes.

I am honoured and privileged to be serving as the chair of this section for the upcoming year. For those who don’t know me, I am a 2014 call, and a partner at Cassels in Toronto. Thank you to Joanna Wice (Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing) for her incredible leadership as chair last year. I have big shoes to fill!

On April 14, 2022, Bill 109, the More Homes for Everyone Act, 2022, received royal assent, just two weeks after it was introduced by the provincial government on March 30, 2022. Bill 109 proposed several amendments to existing legislation, including the Planning Act, the Development Charges Act, 1997, the City of Toronto Act, 2006, the New Home Construction Licensing Act, 2017 and the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act.

Are municipalities free to conduct themselves as they see fit in proceedings before the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT, formerly known as the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal and before that, the Ontario Municipal Board) without the threat of costs being awarded against them? In short, the answer is no. Municipalities are not exempt from cost awards. This article explains why.

Gowling WLG 's Expropriation Law Group summarizes several complex and compelling expropriation cases from across Canada in 2021. The team highlights a number of important issues and key takeaways for those parties involved in the expropriation process. The court decisions are not listed in rank order.

On Jan. 1, 2022 amendments to the Ontario Planning Act were proclaimed. As a result of these amendments, a good number of unfortunate traps have been done away with. This article summarizes those amendments.

On February 3, 2022, Toronto City Council enacted and passed By-law 89-2022 (the “Amendment”), being an amendment to Zoning By-law 569-2013 to update parking standards across the City. Amongst other things, the Amendment introduces new electric vehicle (or “EV”) standards, removes most minimum parking requirements for new developments (except accessible parking standards) and introduces new maximum parking standards.

Earlier this month the City of Toronto (City) adopted Official Plan Amendment No. 524 (OPA 524) delineating 16 Protected Major Transit Station Areas (PMTSAs) within Toronto’s downtown. This article addresses this.