Building and Land Development Industry Commends the Ontario Government for Launching Consultations on the new Community Benefit Charges Framework
Toronto, Feb. 28, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) looks forward to participating in the just-launched public consultation on the Community Benefit Charges (CBC) system. With government fees, taxes and charges accounting for as much as 25 per cent of the cost of a new home in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), the industry welcomes any measures that will make the cost of new development fair for the new home buyer, predictable for the building industry and ensure municipalities have the revenue they need to support growth.
The proposed CBC system will increase clarity, predictability and transparency for the building industry and new buyers by rolling together several charges applied to new developments and capping rates at different levels for single-tier, lower-tier municipalities and regions. The proposed changes also take important steps to ensure that growth will continue to fund important public infrastructure like libraries, daycares and recreation facilities.
"This is an important step toward addressing the housing affordability challenge facing the region," said Dave Wilkes, President & CEO of BILD. "By focusing on increasing supply with the province's Housing Supply Action Plan, increasing the speed of approvals and taking actions such as the CBC system the government is taking decisive steps to address the supply and affordability crisis in the GTA."
The proposed changes will also help to address some structural deficiencies in the previous system.
"In 2019, BILD commissioned a study that found between 2006 and 2017 municipalities across the GTA had collected $1.13 billion more in parkland charges from new residential development than they had spent on new parks," said Dave Wilkes. "But more importantly it showed that how these charges were being assessed acted as a dis-incentive to denser and high-rise development, which has been the policy objective in Ontario for decades." Copies of BILD studies are available here.
BILD is looking forward to continuing to work with the province and municipalities across the GTA to address the critical housing supply and affordability challenge faced by the region and to ensure the smooth implementation of beneficial polices such as those now under consultation.
With 1,500 member companies, BILD is the voice of the home building, land development and professional renovation industry in the Greater Toronto Area. The building and renovation industry provides $33 billion in investment value and employs 271,000 people in the region. BILD is proudly affiliated with the Ontario and Canadian Home Builders' Associations.
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For additional information or to schedule an interview, contact John Provenzano, BILD Communications and Media Relations Manager, at [email protected], (416) 617-7994.
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