The new Provincial Planning Statement, 2024 takes effect on October 20, 2024. What has changed?

Here’s a quick rundown of the key changes of interest as shared by Dan Schneider, Chair of the Policy Committee of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario:

• the new statement is called the Provincial Planning Statement.
• it replaces the current Provincial Policy Statement, 2020, which has been in force for the last four years.
• the new PPS is much more housing-focused than the old PPS.
• the cultural heritage policies have been weakened compared to the old PPS; this means that for the first time in the history of the PPS the policies for the conservation of built heritage, cultural heritage landscapes and archaeology have gone backwards.
• the first (and most important) heritage policy has been changed from “Significant built heritage resources and cultural heritage landscapes shall be conserved” to “Protected heritage property … shall be conserved.”
• Protected heritage property is defined narrowly as designated property and a few other things, meaning that the new policy will not mandate the conservation of listed heritage properties and other heritage property that meets the Ontario Heritage Act criteria for heritage significance but is not listed or designated.
• The result of this change is that municipal councils, provincial ministers and the Ontario Land Tribunal will no longer have to ensure that non-designated heritage property is conserved in making decisions to approve planning and development projects.
• The adjacency policy, requiring that development on lands adjacent to a protected heritage property not adversely impact the heritage attributes of the property, has not been changed: it will continue to apply to development on property contiguous to a protected heritage property or on other adjacent property as defined in the municipality’s Official Plan (giving municipalities leeway to define adjacent to include properties across the street, for example).
• A new policy has been added that municipalities and other planning authorities are “encouraged” to develop “proactive strategies for conserving significant built heritage resources and cultural heritage landscapes.”
• “Proactive strategies” is not defined and its meaning is not clear but the new policy may prove useful in arguing the case for Official Plan policies and other measures that aim to conserve properties no longer protected under the “shall be conserved” policy.

The entire new PPS is here: https://www.ontario.ca/page/provincial-planning-statement-2024. The cultural heritage policies are in section 4.6.

CLICK HERE for a pdf version.