A Look Back at the Second Half of 2022
With the introduction and swift passage of controversial new housing legislation, along with significant developments to the OAA’s offering of tools for members and the public to advance climate action, the Policy and Government Relations service area was working at full speed right up to the end of the year. This article looks at some of these initiatives, from Bill 23 and site plan reform to the harmonized zoning bylaw, online climate case studies, and the evolution of the Association’s Sustainable Built Environments Committee (SBEC).
New Housing Legislation and the OAA’s First Big Think
Building on its commitment to continue to tackle the housing affordability crisis in Ontario, the provincial government introduced and swiftly passed sweeping legislation, Bill 23, More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022. Although this Bill does advance some decade-old recommendations that the OAA proposed, it also gives way to many negative, unintended consequences, particularly environmental ones. With such a big proposal on the table, the Association quickly pulled together its first “Big Think”—a virtual roundtable of Policy Advocacy Coordination Team (PACT) and Sustainable Built Environment Committee (SBEC) members, as well as other subject matter experts.
With the goal of gathering knowledge from the “boots on the ground,” the Big Think was an opportunity to examine historic positions that the OAA has taken and how best to evolve and advance them in light of the proposal that was before Ontario. It was a successful event and represents a model the OAA will carry forward.
In its submission on Bill 23, the OAA balanced its focus on advancing housing affordability across Ontario with its commitment to addressing the climate emergency. Some key recommendations the Association focused on include further intensifying already built-up areas, investing in deep energy retrofits to improve the performance of existing building stock, and implementing an energy step code in the Ontario Building Code. To read the Association’s complete submission, click here.
Site Plan Reform
For more than a decade, the OAA has been calling on government to make changes to the province’s broken Site Plan Approval process. Throughout 2022, and particularly in the latter part of the year, significant changes have occurred to reform Site Plan. Building on the passage of Bill 109, More Homes for Everyone Act, 2022, which mandates delegated authority for Site Plan control decisions, government recently passed two more pieces of legislation (Bill 3, Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act, 2022 and Bill 39, Better Municipal Governance Act, 2022) that relate to streamlining the development approval system in Ontario.
The introduction and passing in November 2022 of Bill 23, More Homes Built Faster Act, advanced reforms to Site Plan Approval by:
- Exempting projects that contain less than 10 residential units from Site Plan control; and,
- Restoring the Section 41 design exclusions in the Planning Act, with a carve-out for some environmental conservation or protection as required by the Building Code Act.
While the Association continues to urge government to further streamline the Site Plan Approval and development approval processes, it remains committed to ensuring this does not come at the expense of environmental considerations.
OAA Appeal of the Toronto Citywide Bylaw 569-2013 Concludes
After nearly a decade, the OAA is pleased the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) has released its final order regarding amendments to the residential provisions of the Toronto Citywide Zoning Bylaw 569-2013. The long-awaited decision came just days after the passage of the contentious Bill 23, and, for its part, can contribute to housing affordability in Toronto.
Affordability, housing choice, and character preservation are key issues underpinning the suggested amendments tabled by the Association. To learn more about the final order and to read the Association’s press release, click here.
World Architecture Day and the 2022 Queen’s Park Picks
Although plans were in place to return to an in-person World Architecture Day celebration for 2022, a quick pivot was required when government announced its adjournment on September 15 until October 25. As such, the 2022 Queen’s Park Picks were announced via the OAA Website and press releases about each pick were circulated to local media outlets and trade publications. In addition to very positive meetings with 10 MPPs representing all political stripes and diverse geographies across Ontario, earned media from this year’s event is also significant. Based on reports from the OAA’s media monitoring software, media coverage that was earned on this year’s event has a potential news reach of 31.2 million and the general sentiment of the coverage is all positive.
Climate Action
As the Association continues to advance climate action in all of its work, significant updates are underway to help enhance the capacity of members and the public to do their part to respond to the emergency before us all.
TEUI Calculator 2.0
With the success of the first iteration of the Total Energy Use Intensity (TEUI) Calculator, work has been underway throughout the second half of 2022 to update the application and increase its functionality. Version 2.0, which is expected to launch in early 2023, will have basic and advanced settings, and will generate other performance metrics.
TEUI Disclosure on Design Excellence Awards
To expand the range of learning opportunities that members and the public have access to and to further demonstrate the OAA’s commitment to climate action, the total TEUI of Design Excellence award-winners is now disclosed along with the blOAAg building profiles published on the OAA Website.
Climate Action Webpage
In the fall of 2022, the Climate Action page of the OAA website underwent a significant refresh. Some key changes to the page include:
- A “Related Links” sidebar to point to related pages on the OAA Website, including the pages about the Strategic Plan, Scholarships, and Continuing Education;
- A “Funding Support” tab that includes links to key funding sources for OAA members and their clients looking to integrate climate considerations in their buildings; and
- Contact information so members and the public can get in touch with OAA staff if they have a great Climate Action resource to share.
Additionally, work began to refresh the Case Studies section of the page. Launching in early 2023, members will be able to access a fillable form that can be used to populate case studies about projects that are being built better. Stay tuned for more details about this in upcoming issues of OAA News.
Climate Action Advisory Group
As of December 2022, the Sustainable Built Environment Committee (SBEC) has evolved into the OAA’s Climate Action Advisory Group. This is aligned with the Climate Action lens of the Association’s five-year strategic plan, which is used to explore each initiative the OAA considers undertaking and facilitates better use of the expertise of the group by all service areas of the organization. Comprising volunteers from the architecture profession, the Climate Action Advisory Group can be called upon by any service area to ensure the Climate Action lens is always applied accurately to all of the OAA’s work.
To learn more about the Policy and Government Relations services area of the OAA, check out the OAA’s GR Portal.