Summary#

Bill 154, the New Deal for Toronto Act, 2023, was enacted as Chapter 25 of Ontario’s 2023 statutes. It creates two laws: the Recovery Through Growth Act (City of Toronto), 2023 and the Rebuilding Ontario Place Act, 2023. Its stated goal is to support Toronto’s long-term financial stability and growth; that is a goal, not a promised result.

• Ontario and Toronto must discuss the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway, TTC subway funding, surplus lands for housing and other priorities, and city funding for shelters and homelessness services. Shelter funding discussions are conditional on federal support for services for refugees and asylum seekers.
• The discussions do not require the governments to reach an agreement or provide funding. If they agree on a proposal, they must discuss an implementation plan.
• Ontario can make regulations to transfer prescribed Ontario Place land and related property to the Crown, under the Infrastructure Minister’s control. The Crown must pay compensation for property that was owned or controlled by Toronto or another specified entity.
• The Act gives the Infrastructure Minister planning powers for the Ontario Place site. Some projects connected with its redevelopment are exempt from environmental assessment requirements; heritage protections also do not apply to specified land and structures, subject to regulations.
• The law limits some City of Toronto powers related to Ontario Place. It also lets the Minister order the City to provide municipal services or access to roads and other property for the project if negotiations fail.

What it means for you#

• Toronto residents: The City may have to provide services or access needed for Ontario Place work, including outside the site. The Minister must first notify the City and negotiate; if agreement fails, the Minister may issue an order. Such an order can set terms for public impact, compensation to the City, liability, technical standards and dispute resolution.
• Toronto and other property holders: The law bars anyone from selling, encumbering or otherwise disposing of land and related property identified in its schedule. A later provision repeals that ban on a date set by proclamation. The supplied material does not say whether that proclamation has occurred: No publicly available information.
• Toronto and Ontario: They must hold the specified discussions, but the law does not require a highway transfer, TTC funding, use of surplus land, or a particular level of shelter funding.
• People who use or visit Ontario Place: The City’s power to regulate noise from the site is removed, except as regulations allow. That provision starts on a date set by proclamation; whether it has started is not stated in the supplied material.
• The public: The Act does not set out a general application, public review or appeal process for the redevelopment. It does not itself approve a particular redevelopment plan.

Money#

The law requires compensation for certain property transferred to the Crown and allows compensation for certain municipal access impacts, but no cost estimate is provided.

• Property compensation is based on market value, with details set by regulations. Disputes about that compensation go to binding arbitration. Payment must come from money appropriated by the Legislature.
• The Minister may set terms for municipal access that include resources and compensation for impacts on Toronto; any such compensation must also come from money appropriated by the Legislature.
• The law allows some costs owed to the Crown to be deducted from property compensation. No estimate of these costs, staffing needs or other public spending is given.
• The law does not itself set amounts for the proposed TTC, shelter or homelessness support.

What is unclear#

• Which lands will be prescribed for transfer, when they will transfer, and what exceptions or conditions will apply.
• What compensation rules and amounts regulations will set, and whether they will specify other people or entities entitled to compensation.
• What redevelopment work will be covered by the broad term “Ontario Place Redevelopment Project,” and what further land, buildings or structures may receive or lose heritage protection.
• What consultation or public participation will happen for specific projects. The Act exempts some work from environmental assessment requirements, but does not spell out project-by-project public processes.
• Whether the City’s noise powers, and the property-disposal ban, have changed through the required proclamations. No publicly available information.

Case for#

• The bill appears intended to give Ontario and Toronto a required forum to discuss shared issues such as transit, roads, housing and homelessness.
• A possible argument for the Ontario Place powers is that one provincial minister could make planning and access decisions for a project that involves provincial land and infrastructure.
• The compensation rules provide a process for valuing property transferred to the Crown, including appraisals and arbitration for disputes.
• The law allows access orders to include measures to reduce public impacts and compensate the City.

Case against#

• The discussions do not guarantee funding or agreement, so the law itself does not ensure that Toronto receives support for transit or homelessness services.
• The Minister receives broad planning and access powers, while some orders need not follow provincial policy statements or plans. The Act does not set out a public review process for those orders.
• Exempting project work from environmental assessment requirements and limiting heritage protections may reduce safeguards; the scope depends partly on regulations.
• The Crown’s liability protections bar many claims connected to the Act, while the law provides specific compensation routes only for certain property and access impacts.