Bill 35 explained in plain English
Preserving Existing Communities Act, 2013
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. Representative vote breakdowns appear when the Assembly publishes an Ayes and Nays page for the bill.
Our plain-language take, written for civic education.
Source: By PoliticalData.ca
The Preserving Existing Communities Act, 2013 makes certain municipal decisions to refuse housing intensification final and unappealable to the Ontario Municipal Board.
This bill, titled the Preserving Existing Communities Act, 2013, amends the Places to Grow Act, 2005. It makes certain municipal decisions to refuse development proposals that would increase housing units final, meaning they cannot be appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board. These decisions specifically relate to land designated for residential uses, mixed uses including residential, or parks and open space, and must be accompanied by a council resolution stating the refusal is in the best interests of the municipality. The bill also states that failing to decide on such a request within 180 days can be considered a refusal. This new provision takes precedence over other laws.
- Amends the Places to Grow Act, 2005 to add a new section regarding the finality of certain municipal planning decisions.
- Makes decisions by municipal councils to refuse requests for official plan amendments that would increase housing units on land designated for residential, mixed residential, or parks and open space uses, final and not subject to appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board.
- Specifies that a municipal council's resolution stating the refusal is in the best interests of residents is a condition for a decision to be considered final.
- Provides that if a municipal council fails to decide on such a request within 180 days, it is deemed a refusal and is final.
- States that these provisions apply even if the municipality's official plan does not conform to the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, 2006, or if intensification targets have not been met.
- Includes transitional provisions for decisions made on or after March 21, 2013, and for decisions deemed to have been made before that date under specific appeal conditions.
- Declares that this new section prevails over conflicting provisions in the Places to Grow Act, 2005, its regulations, growth plans, the Planning Act, its regulations, provincial plans, policy statements, or any other Act or regulation.
- Municipal councils
- Municipal planning authorities
- Developers proposing to increase housing units in designated areas
- The Ontario Municipal Board
- Municipal councils must pass a resolution stating a refusal of a housing intensification proposal is in the best interests of residents for the decision to be final.
- The right to appeal certain municipal decisions refusing housing intensification proposals to the Ontario Municipal Board is removed.
- The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- The new provisions apply to decisions made on or after March 21, 2013.
- Transitional rules apply to certain decisions deemed made before March 21, 2013, if an appeal right existed but no notice was filed.
- Failure to adopt a requested official plan amendment is deemed a refusal on the 181st day after the request is received.
- The specific criteria for what constitutes 'best interests of the residents of the municipality' are not detailed in the bill text.
- The exact nature of 'municipal planning areas' and 'municipal planning authorities' to which the provisions apply is not further defined within this bill.
- While the bill states it prevails over other legislation, the full extent of its impact on existing legal frameworks is not explicitly detailed beyond the categories listed.
Adds a new section (14.1) that makes certain municipal decisions to refuse housing intensification final and unappealable.
Source: Section 1
The new provisions apply in relation to this plan, and the bill states that the new section prevails over the plan.
Source: Section 14.1 (1), (4), (7)
The new provisions prevail over this Act, its regulations, provincial plans, and policy statements.
Source: Section 14.1 (7)
Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.
Official textProcess Snapshot
Vote Summary
This bill is still active. We only show vote counts after the legislature publishes a recorded division.
No published representative vote breakdown
This bill is still moving through the process. When a recorded division is published, representative positions can be listed here.
Official sources
Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.
How this data is sourced