Firm News

Municipal Law Bulletin: Province's Proposed OMB Reforms

Province Releases Consultation Paper on Proposed Changes to OMB

On October 5, 2016, the provincial government released a public consultation paper (see here) that proposes changes to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) organized into five broad themes: (1) the OMB’s jurisdiction and powers; (2) citizen participation and local perspective; (3 ) clear and predictable decision-making; (4) modern procedures and faster decisions; and (5) alternative dispute resolution and fewer hearings.

In particular, the province is making clear that its objectives for reforming the OMB’s role within the land use planning system are to enable more meaningful, affordable citizen participation, give more weight to local and provincial decisions, support clear, more predictable decision-making, and promote alternative ways of settling disputes.

Town hall meetings will be held across Ontario on the proposed reforms in October/November 2016. For more information, see here. All comments must be submitted by December 19, 2016.

Five key themes in the province’s review of the OMB

1. OMB’s jurisdiction and powers

The province is considering the following amendments to the Planning Act to give more weight to local and provincial decisions, and bring fewer decisions before the OMB:

  • limiting appeals on provincial land use planning decisions;
  • restricting appeals for development that supports provincially funded transit infrastructure like subways and bus stations;
  • giving communities a stronger voice, e.g. by expanding the authority of local appeal bodies to include site plan appeals, by requiring the OMB to send significant new information that arises in a hearing back to municipal council for re - evaluation of the original decision; and
  • moving the OMB away from conducting “de novo” hearings to give more weight to municipal and provincial decisions.

2. Citizen participation and local perspective

The province is making efforts to ensure that individuals and parties without legal representation are able to get and stay involved in local land use planning by:

  • increasing public education opportunities, such as a new, user-friendly website to provide clearer information on OMB practices and procedures;
  • expanding the Citizen Liaison Office (CLO) to provide easier public access to information;
  • reconfiguring the CLO to include in-house planning experts and lawyers available to the public, subject to eligibility criteria; and
  • explore funding tools to help citizens retain their own planning experts and/or lawyers.

3. Clear and predictable decision-making

The province is proposing to increase the number of OMB adjudicators and increase further training, as well as reintroducing multi-member panels to either only conduct complex hearings or to conduct all hearings.

4. Modern procedures and faster decisions

To help modernize OMB procedures which would lead to faster decisions, the province is considering:

  • adopting less complex and more accessible tribunal procedures;
  • allowing adjudicators to play a more active role in hearings; and
  • setting appropriate timelines for decisions, conducting more hearings in writing, and taking actions to make hearings more cost-effective and efficient.

5. Alternative dispute resolution and fewer hearings

The province is looking to actively promote mediation for OMB appeals, requiring all hearings to go to mediation prior to scheduling a hearing, strengthening case management at the OMB to better stream and scope issues, and creating timelines and targets for scheduling cases, including mediation. 

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