This report recommends a comprehensive but phased approach to implementing Bill 109, the More Homes for Everyone Act, 2022. Further reporting through Planning and Housing Committee is expected throughout 2023 in response to existing and potential future legislative change. This report describes the ongoing roll out of a new operating model for the City's development review service and details the organizational structure, process improvements and technology upgrades required to ensure optimal functioning of the model as the City responds to existing and evolving legislative change. Additionally, it identifies the policy and process measures necessary to ensure the City continues to achieve good city-building outcomes while mitigating risk to cost recovery of its development review service. In 2019, City Council adopted the End-to-End Review of the Development Review Process Report (E2E). E2E serves as a blueprint for the transformation of the City's development review service, which is underway through the Concept 2 Keys program and ongoing divisional program reviews. Implementation of E2E recommendations, including the new operating model, is imperative in the face of punitive legislated timeline provisions introduced through Bill 109. Now more than ever, the City must structure and resource its development review service in ways that improve coordination, collaboration and communication across multidisciplinary teams and between stakeholders. Even as the new operating model rolls out city-wide, the legislation will severely hinder the City's ability to recover the cost of its development review service, particularly as the City does not have sole control over the legislated review timeline. This risk likely cannot be fully mitigated in 2023, and must be balanced against the long-term risks to city-building that will arise if thorough review, stakeholder engagement, and careful consideration of the City's strategic priorities are overlooked in the name of legislated timeline management. The near-term process improvements identified in this report support a development review system that is increasingly underpinned and supported by legislative and policy tools to ensure consistency of approach and improved performance management.
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