2024 Development Charges Background Study

Update: June 12, 2024

The 2024 Development Charges Background Study was posted for public review and comment on April 12, 2024, with a public meeting following on May 8. 

• Download the Background Study
• Download the Addendum 

On June 10, Oxford County issued an Addendum to the Background Study with the passing of Bill 185 - Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act, 2024, on June 6, 2024. This legislation includes a number of changes to the Development Charges Act. 

The purpose of the Addendum to the Background Study is to include development charge eligible costs for growth-related studies and reflect other changes in the Development Charges Act made through Bill 185, such as reducing the development charge “freeze” from 2-years to 18 months, removal of the statutory phase-in of the charge in new by-laws, and other housekeeping amendments.

Oxford County's updated development charges, policy and by-laws were passed by County Council on June 12, 2024. 

• Read the Council report: CS 2024-17 - 2024 Development Charge Background Study 
• Read the public notice: Notice of the passing of Development Charge By-Law 
• Visit the Development Charges section of the Oxford County website

Have your say

The Oxford County 2024 Development Charges Background Study was posted for public review and comment from April 12 to May 17, 2024. Opportunities for the public to provide input included the following.

• STAKEHOLDER MEETING. A special meeting for developers and related organizations took place March 18, 2024, to share the findings from the development charge review process and to provide input on the public meeting.
  
  
• PUBLIC MEETING. The public meeting was held on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. This was a hybrid (in-person and online) meeting as part of the regularly scheduled County Council meeting. Download the public notice | Accessible version
  
  
• QUICK POLL. A "quick poll" was in place over the public consultation period to ask whether or not Oxford County should remove its current non-statutory exemption for industrial development charges. The June 12, 2024, report to Council recommended continuing the exemption.
  
  
• ONLINE COMMENT FORM. A "Question and comment form" was provided for the public to submit feedback.
  
  
• EMAIL: Direct comments from the public were accepted by the project contacts listed at right.

Posted June 26, 2023

See project updates
 

About the Background Study

Oxford County and seven local area municipalities are working together to update their development charge background studies to prepare to pass new development charge by-laws. 

• Oxford County
• Town of Ingersoll
• Town of Tillsonburg
• Township of Blandford-Blenheim
• Township of East Zorra-Tavistock
• Township of Norwich 
• Township of South-West Oxford 
• Township of Zorra

As part of this process, the municipalities are seeking feedback about the current development charges, policies, exemptions, by-law administration, and other matters. 

What are development charges?

Development charges are the fees paid by land developers to help finance the municipal infrastructure and services that are needed to support new growth in residential, commercial and industrial areas. 

Through development charges, municipalities are able to provide reliable and financially sustainable roads, water, wastewater, fire and ambulance, parks and more. 

Oxford County and Area Municipalities’ development charge by-laws will expire in mid-2024, requiring the background studies to be updated before new by-laws can be passed. A background study will include evidence of projected population and business or industry growth in a community; outline what services are needed to support that level of growth; and assess existing infrastructure. 

What's changing 

There have also been a number of legislative changes that have been brought about by the More Homes Built Faster Act (i.e., Bill 23) that will need to be reflected in the background studies and by-laws. Some of the main changes to the Development Charges Act brought about by Bill 23 include:

• Non-profit housing is now exempt from the payment of development charges.
• Rental housing development will now receive mandatory reductions to development charges based on the number of bedrooms in each unit.
• Mandatory exemptions have been introduced for affordable, attainable and inclusionary zoning units.
• Development charges must now be phased in over a 5-year period.

Download the 2024 Background Study Overview for more detailed information. 

Stakeholder and area municipal council meetings

DownloadOxford County hosted an online stakeholder meeting on March 18, 2024, for developers, businesses, and municipal and community partners to share findings from the development charge review (May 2023) and to receive input from this group. This session focused on the development charge by-law reviews for Oxford County, Blandford-Blenheim, East Zorra-Tavistock, Ingersoll, Norwich, South-West Oxford, Tillsonburg and Zorra. 

Download the presentation

Presentations to municipal councils also took place over March 2024. Download the presentation for each area municipality below.