
Community Benefits Charges
The City of Hamilton has begun work to establish a new Community Benefits Charge (CBC) Strategy and By-law under the Planning Act. The proposed Community Benefits Charge Strategy and By-law will be presented to Hamilton City Council in June 2022 for consideration.
Key facts about the CBC
- Changes to the Planning Act include a tool that allows municipalities to impose a Community Benefits Charges on eligible high-density developments or redevelopments
- The new CBC legislation replaces the prior Section 37 of the Planning Act, which allowed municipalities to secure community benefits through agreements related to re-zoning that allowed increased height and/or density over and above exiting planning permissions
- Municipalities must pass a CBC Strategy and By-law to utilize this financing tool
- CBC’s can fund capital costs of municipal services that are not being funded under a parkland by-law or a DC by-law
What is a CBC?
- A new fee/charge paid by developers when a building permit is issued
- A fee/charge to be imposed in addition to the Development Charges (DC) and Parkland dedication/payment or cash-in-lieu of parkland provisions of the Planning Act
- A charge on developments with five or more storeys and 10 or more residential units
- A cap at 4% of the land value on the day before a building permit is issued
Note: A CBC is NOT the former Section 37 (Planning Act) bonusing density tool, OR a Community Benefit Agreement.
How do CBC’s work?
- Growth-related capital infrastructure and services are eligible to be funded from CBC revenue including, but not limited to, the following:
- Services being removed from DC collections as of September 18, 2022 (Parking, Airport and some Studies)
- Other current ineligible DC services such as:
- Municipal Administration Building Expansion
- Cultural Initiatives (e.g. Museums, Arts Centres, Public Arts, Heritage Preservation)
- Public Realm Improvements (e.g. Community Gardens, Space for Non-Profits)
- Expansion to Landfill
- Parkland Acquisition (in excess of parkland dedication provisions of the Planning Act)
- Eligible DC infrastructure
- Developments EXEMPT from a CBC (where specific criteria is met as set out in Ontario Regulation 509/20) include:
- Long-term care homes and retirement homes
- Universities, colleges, and Indigenous Institutes
- Memorial homes, clubhouses or athletic grounds of the Royal Canadian Legion
- Hospices
- Non-profit housing
Documents
Staff Presentation to Audit, Finance and Administration Committee on June 16, 2022:
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