The OAA’s governing Council met in Niagara Falls on May 21 in order to discuss a variety of topics related to the Association and the architecture profession within the context of regulating for the public interest.

As always, the OAA publicly posts Council agenda and meeting information packages on the OAA Website. Anyone interested in virtually attending an open session is able to contact Tina Carfa for the link and additional information. (The next meeting takes place on June 20.)

Public Awareness Sponsorships

External individuals and organizations can apply twice a year to the OAA’s Communications and Public Education Committee’s (CPEC’s) Public Awareness Sponsorship program for assistance in carrying out projects or events promoting Ontario architecture to the public. Any requests that are supported by CPEC, but are above $10,000, must go to Council for consideration. After discussion and hearing from individuals related to the two requests in question, Council agreed to offer funding of $25,000 each to No. 9’s Imagining My Sustainable Community and next year’s Winter Stations.

Updates Related to Continuing Education

OAA Council approved a proposal to change the previous tiered fine approach for those who do not comply with the requirements of the mandatory Continuing Education (ConEd) Program to a consistent $750, effective immediately.

As well, Council agreed to keep the Climate Action requirement of 2.0 Structured Learning hours (introduced in 2022) into the next reporting cycle that runs from 2024 to 2026. The OAA will continue to share qualifying third-party educational sessions and events on its website and social media to ensure members can access learning related to this topic.

Demographics Survey

In 2020, OAA Council agreed to implement a long-term data collection strategy through a Demographics Survey of its members and others with Association status. It gathers race-based and other equity-relevant data to provide a baseline for measuring progress as the Association works to better ensure equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in the architecture profession, as well as to develop relevant programs and initiatives. It is confidential and voluntary, and issued through third-party provider, Stratcom.

For the 2023 edition, the questions were reviewed by EDI consultant Hollie Turner from Empowered, and minor updates were made with a view to ensuring terminology remains current and content is accurate and up-to-date. It was open from January 16 to March 4, 2024, resulting in 792 completes. Changes were positive, but quite slight from the previous year, and the survey will now move to biennial frequency, with the next iteration coming in 2026.

Updating the Site Plan Approval Study

For more than a decade, the OAA has been advancing recommendations to government to fix Ontario’s broken Site Plan Approval process.

In 2013, the Association commissioned commercial real estate consultant Altus Group to undertake an independent study. The resulting report, “A Review of the Site Plan Approval Process in Ontario,” found that significant costs are imposed on end users. In the case of the condominium building, for example, the total monthly cost to all stakeholders, including government, was estimated between $396,5000 and $479,800. The report identifies a series of recommendations to reduce the delays and costs associated with Site Plan Approvals.

While the report was widely lauded in professional and policy circles, it left an important question unanswered: How much is this all costing the government? The OAA engaged Altus again to provide another independent study. “Site Plan Delay Analysis,” released in July 2018, quantified the effects of site plan delays and found a staggering provincial cost of at least $100 million per month Ontario-wide. The average time for Site Plan Approval is six months or more, and the total cost of delays was found to be at least $900 million per year in Ontario.

Despite significant legislative changes that have occurred since the 2018 report, including legislation that responded to recommendations in the 2013 report, the OAA’s Policy Advisory Coordination Team (PACT) continues to raise concerns about the broken Site Plan Approval process. There are numerous accounts the process is taking even longer in the wake of the implementation of various reform measures.

Council agreed to PACT’s proposal a new study, again by Altus, be carried out to update:

- the analysis of province-wide impacts of site plan delays to quantify the current total and opportunity costs associated with the delays; and

- the economic impacts analysis to set out the magnitude and impacts of the architecture industry in Ontario.

More information will be shared on the study as it begins to take shape in the weeks and months to come.