Community benefits charges (“CBC”) are a new funding tool authorized under s. 37 of Ontario’s Planning Act (the “Act”) that allow municipalities to impose a charge against higher density development to pay for capital costs related to developments and redevelopments. CBCs can only be levied against mid- to high-density buildings that are five or more storeys and contain 10 or more residential units.
Municipalities can use CBCs to pay for “facilities, services and matters required because of development or redevelopment in the area to which the by-law applies.”[1] They can be used together with development charges and parkland and other public recreation amenities contributions by developers under s. 42 of the Act.
The maximum permitted CBC that can be levied against a development is 4% of the land value on the day before issuance of the building permit.[2] Some municipalities, including Brampton, Guelph, Halton Hills, Hamilton, Markham, Mississauga, and Newmarket (to name a few), opted to calculate the CBC rate by calculating 4% of the land value. [3] However, since the Act is silent on how the CBC rate is to be structured, other municipalities have chosen a different approach, based on a fixed per unit rate. The Town of Innisfil (“Innisfil”) and Pickering form part of the latter group.
Innisfil opted to include per unit rates following consultations with stakeholders in the development industry. The Town is currently planning to build a transit-oriented community for 90,000 residents, called the Orbit, that will be built around a proposed GO Station. Developers wanted certainty during the planning process. They wanted to be able to calculate the CBC rate during the planning stage, instead of having to obtain an appraisal before the building permit is issued.