On July 29, 2026, Ontario’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing (the “Minister”) referred the City of Toronto (“Toronto“)’s Official Plan Amendment 804 (“OPA 804“), in its entirety, to the Ontario Land Tribunal (the “Tribunal“), pursuant to their powers under s. 17(55) of the Planning Act.
OPA 804 pertains to Toronto’s Employment Lands, and forms part of Toronto’s response to recent provincial changes to the planning framework governing “areas of employment”. This referral is also one of the rare uses of the Minister’s referral powers under this provision, which was recently introduced through Bill 109, the More Homes for Everyone Act, 2022.
The Tribunal’s recommendation on OPA 804 and the reasoning it provides in support of same will be important because it will have implications not only for areas of employment in Toronto, but also for how certain aspects of the new “area of employment” regime should be applied elsewhere in the Province. Accordingly, it will be important to monitor this referral, and, to the extent the Tribunal directs a public hearing, to actively participate in same where warranted.
A copy of the Minister’s referral letter to the Tribunal can be found here.
OPA 804 – A Brief History
OPA 804 is Toronto’s adopted employment area policy instrument that is purported to implement legislative changes to the definition of “area of employment”, introduced through Bill 97, the Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act, 2023, and be consistent with related changes to “employment areas” in the Provincial Planning Statement, 2024. OPA 804 was adopted pursuant to section 26 of the Planning Act. The Minister is the approval authority on any section 26 amendment, and to the extent OPA 804 is a valid section 26 exercise, the Minister’s decision is not appealable to the Tribunal.
As adopted, OPA 804 proposes the redesignation of lands within four of Toronto’s “Employment Areas” to “Regeneration Areas” or “Institutional Areas”, such that they are no longer an “area of employment” as defined within the Planning Act. The lands proposed for redesignation represent a small portion of Toronto’s overall employment land base such that most of Toronto’s Employment Areas would remain as “areas of employment”.
The amendment further provides that lands redesignated to Regeneration Areas would be subject to a new Site and Area Specific Policy requiring the adoption of new or updated Secondary Plan policies, before residential uses can be permitted.
The Minister’s Referral Power, Explained
Introduced through Bill 109, subsection 17(55) of the Planning Act permits the Minister, where the Minister is the approval authority for an official plan or official plan amendment (as is the case for OPA 804), to refer all or part of the matter to the Ontario Land Tribunal for a recommendation.
Unlike a conventional planning appeal, the Tribunal does not issue an order disposing of the matter. Instead, under subsection 17(57), the Tribunal must provide a written recommendation to the Minister, with reasons, as to whether the plan or part of the plan referred should:
i. be approved;
ii. be modified and approved as modified; or,
iii. be refused.
The Tribunal is not required to hold a hearing before making its recommendation. If it does hold a hearing, notice must be provided to the municipality that adopted the plan and to any person or public body that, before the plan was adopted, made oral submissions at a public meeting or written submissions to council. At this time, it is not known whether the Tribunal intends to hold a hearing. If the Tribunal holds a hearing it is possible that other interested persons beside the municipality may be granted party status to assist the Tribunal in formulating a recommendation to provide to the Minister.
What decision the Minister makes, having considered the Tribunal’s recommendation, could be subject to an application for judicial review.
We will continue to monitor this referral and provide you with updates as this process unfolds.
The information and comments herein are for the general information of the reader and are not intended as advice or opinion to be relied upon in relation to any particular circumstances. For particular application of the law to specific situations, the reader should seek professional advice.
