Policy Blog

The Ontario Business Improvement Area Associations (OBIAA) released a consultation paper Municipal Act: An Act in Three Parts which among other things, calls for a separate act governing BIAs.   The paper identifies four challenges with the Municipal Act, where BIAs…

There are a couple pieces of federal legislation that we have been monitoring with respect to elections as part of our ongoing tracking of local elections issues and trends.   As members are aware, we released our recommendations to update the Municipal Elections Act, 1996…

The 2023 Annual Report from the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPC) entitled Beyond Imagination: Planning for Ontarians’ Digital Future, has been released. The report provides highlights of IPC activity from the previous year as well as statistics from the…

Last week, the federal and provincial governments, with the City of Toronto and Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), renewed the Canada Community Building Fund (CCBF) agreement. Renewed for 10 years, the federal government will invest $4.7 billion over the next five…

Yesterday Premier Ford announced changes to Ontario’s Cabinet, which grew from 30 to 36 members.    Of particular interest to AMCTO and our members: Minister Paul Calandra will be keeping his portfolio as Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing as well Minister Todd…

Through Bill 23, the More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022, the Province made changes to the Development Charges Act, 1997 introducing exemptions and discounts for affordable residential units from municipal development-related charges. These exemptions and discounts intending to…

Applications for the 2024-25 round of the EnAbling Change Program are open now until June 27. This year’s program envelope of $1.5M is available for not-for-profits, municipalities, and other organizations to educate their stakeholders and/or the public about accessibility…

On Tuesday, April 16 Hon. Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, released Budget 2024: Fairness for Every Generation.  This year’s federal budget proposes an increase in new spending ($52.9 billion over the next 5 years as a result of new…

On April 10, 2024, the Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and Minister of Legislative Affairs, Hon. Paul Calandra introduced Bill 185, Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act, 2024. Presented as part of a red tape reduction package, its stated intent is to…

On Tuesday, April 2, Prime Minister Trudeau announced key measures to cut red tape, build more homes, and help communities grow as part of the upcoming 2024 federal budget.  Measures that may be of interest to our members and the municipal sector include:  An…