Bill 150 Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. On December 6, 2023, Bill 150, the Planning Statute Law Amendment Act, received Royal Assent which reversed all but three of the Provincial modifications made to the City’s Urban and Rural Official Plans on November 4, 2022. The legislation restores the no urban boundary expansion growth strategy approved by City Council in June 2022, deeming the previous Provincial decision to expand the urban boundary as having never been made.

Staff are currently in the process of updating both the Urban and Rural Hamilton Official Plans to reflect Bill 150 and the removal of Provincial modifications to Urban Hamilton Official Plan Amendment No. 167 and Rural Hamilton Official Plan Amendment No. 34. 

There are multiple Planning Act applications which were in progress at the time of the Ministerial approval of the Urban and Rural Hamilton Official Plan or that have been submitted since that time. Several applications were identified as being directly impacted by the Provincial reversal and are listed in Appendix “C” to report PED23252.

At this time, the impacts of Bill 150 on these matters are unclear. Staff have requested clarification from the Provincial government and continue to recommend clearer transition policies as outlined in report PED23252.

Various costs have been incurred as a result of the November 4, 2022, Provincial modifications to Urban Hamilton Official Plan Amendment No. 167 and Rural Hamilton Official Plan Amendment No. 34. Costs include both staff resources spent to review and implement the changes, and consultant costs related to the planning of the urban expansion areas. The Province has indicated it will be collecting information and supporting documentation from municipalities outlining costs incurred as a result of the Provincial decisions. City staff will prepare detailed cost estimates and will engage in further discussion with the Province regarding cost recovery.

On October 23, 2023, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing announced the intention to reverse Provincial modifications made to Official Plans and Official Plan Amendments, approved by various municipalities in 2022 and 2023 through legislation. Since then, the City has received two Official Plan Amendment applications to establish Secondary Plans within the former Urban Boundary lands.

• On November 14, 2023, the City received an Official Plan Amendment to establish a Secondary Plan within the Twenty Road West urban expansion lands submitted by Corbett Land Strategies on behalf of the Upper West Side Landowners Group.  The application was deemed incomplete on December 19, 2023. The incomplete application position of the City has been appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal.
• On December 18, 2023, the City received an Official Plan Amendment to establish a Secondary Plan within the White Church Road urban expansion lands submitted by UrbanSolutions Planning & Land Development Consultants Inc. on behalf of the Whitechurch Landowners Group Inc. The application was deemed incomplete by City staff on January 12, 2024.

Both applications were submitted based on the Provincially imposed Urban Boundary expansion being in place whereas Bill 150 deemed the urban expansion to have never occurred. As a result, an amendment to the Rural Hamilton Official Plan is required to bring these lands into the Urban Boundary before a Secondary Plan could proceed.

The Urban Hamilton Official Plan does not permit expansions to the urban boundary outside of a Municipal Comprehensive Review process. However, the A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe permits applications for urban boundary expansions under 40 hectares outside of a Municipal Comprehensive Review, where a specific set of policies in the Growth Plan are met. Based on the current Growth Plan policies, applications for urban boundary expansions under 40 hectares may be submitted to the City, even with the reversal of the Provincial decision. It is important to note that under the Planning Act City Council’s refusal or failure to make a decision on an urban boundary expansion application can not be appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal.

No. Bill 150 introduces various clauses intended to limit or bar legal actions from being taken with respect to the removal of Provincial modifications to Official Plans.

Bill 150 and the Provincial modifications to OPA 167 and OPA 34 do not affect the Greenbelt Plan Area designations. Find more information regarding Bill 136, Greenbelt Statute Law Amendment Act, 2023, and the reintroduction of lands removed from the Greenbelt Plan Area.

Bill 150 restores the no urban boundary expansion growth strategy approved by City Council in June 2022. To accommodate the City’s forecasted population growth within the existing urban area, future housing supply will need to shift from ground-related housing forms to higher density housing forms such as apartment units.

Official Plan Amendment 167 establishes new policies in the Urban Hamilton Official Plan for the City to monitor and report annually on several housing and land development indicators including housing affordability. Staff are currently preparing the reporting framework for annual monitoring and estimate that the first annual housing report will be submitted to Planning Committee in the second quarter of 2024. Staff will utilize the annual housing report to monitor key housing indicators and assess progress towards meeting the City’s housing targets.

Yes. The effect of the Provincial reversal includes restoring the no urban boundary expansion growth strategy approved by City Council on June 8, 2022. Council considered report PED23252 which identified the key modifications and implications of the reversal. Report PED23252 also recommended that several minor Provincial modifications that provide clarification or contribute to interpretive conformity with Provincial policies be retained.

On November 22, 2023, Hamilton City Council unanimously endorsed the recommendations in staff report PED23252 including that “Council reconfirm its position on Urban Hamilton Official Plan No. Amendment 167 and Rural Hamilton Official Plan Amendment No. 34, as adopted by Council on June 8, 2022”.