The Architectural Conservancy Ontario (ACO) has released a statement regarding the Government of Ontario?s recent  Bill 23, the More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022 announcement.

On October 25, the Ontario Government proposed changes to the province?s natural heritage and land use planning legislation and policy by removing environmental protections, and reducing the role of Ontarians in land use planning.

The ACO?s news release outlines the devastation for Ontario’s Heritage in Bill 23:

?Whether intended or not, the changes proposed for the Ontario Heritage Act (OHA) in Bill 23 will make it practically impossible to protect most of Ontario?s identified heritage properties. This can only be seen as a knee-jerk response to a vindictive attack by the development industry on our heritage system. There was no consultation or consideration of the destructive impacts of these proposals across Ontario?, says ACO Chair Diane Chin. ?Why drop a cluster bomb of changes into the heritage system that will not create a single unit of affordable housing" The proposed changes to the OHA must be dropped from Bill 23?, adds Ms. Chin. Two of the proposals stand out. Forcing communities to drop ?listed? properties from their heritage registers if they are not designated in two years and requiring that the standard for designation of properties be hiked from at least one of Ontario?s heritage criteria to two.
Requiring a property to meet two of the legislated criteria for des...