Table Of Contents:
1. What is the Ontario Heritage Act?
2. Changes to the Ontario Heritage Act in 2024: What’s New?
2.1. Extended Time for Designation Decisions
2.2. Five-Year Relisting Ban
2.3. Voluntary Removal of Listed Properties
2.4. Legacy Properties and Extended Timeframe
3. Amendments to Ontario Heritage Act: The Round Up!
4. Before the 2024 Amendments
5. Now, after the 2024 Amendments
At ALMAR Demolition, we have handled both commercial demos and residential demolitions across Southern Ontario for many years. With recent changes to the Ontario Heritage Act (OHA), it is prudent to know how these updates will affect demolition, renovation, and construction. If you are a property owner, contractor, or developer, understanding this will be integral to the timelines and success of your projects.
This guide will help to break down the Ontario Heritage Act and what’s new in 2024 that you need to know.
What is the Ontario Heritage Act?
The Ontario Heritage Act is a law designed to protect properties that have cultural or historical significance. In recent times, this has come to mean certain buildings, homes, or commercial properties can be listed or designated as “heritage properties.” It serves to provide municipalities with the authority to conserve such properties by controlling alterations, demolitions, and construction, which can, in turn, affect property owners and developers.
There are two key categories for properties under the Ontario Heritage Act:
- Designated properties: Properties that are officially recognized for having value in cultural heritage. The approval of any alteration, renovation, or demolition may be granted only by a formal process, including obtaining a heritage permit.
- Non-designated property: A property that is listed in the municipal heritage register but is not designated. Although less restrictive, there are still limitations, particularly regarding demolitions.
Changes to the Ontario Heritage Act in 2024: What’s New?
The 2024 amendments, brought in by Bill 200 (Homeowner Protection Act of 2024) aim to streamline the process and provide more clarity for both municipalities and property owners. Let’s look at the key changes and how they affect demolitions:
1. Extended Time for Designation Decisions
Old Rule: Municipalities had until January 1, 2025, to decide whether to designate properties listed on the register as of December 31, 2022. If no decision was made, these properties would be automatically removed from the register, freeing them up for demolition.
New Rule: Municipalities now have until January 1, 2027 to decide whether to designate these properties. If no notice of intention to designate (NOID) is issued by that date, the property is removed from the register, and the municipality cannot relist it for five years (until January 1, 2032).
Impact on Demolitions
The change provides more time to municipalities to evaluate properties, which makes demolitions slower. The positives, however, are that if nothing is done by 2027, you have a five-year window during which the property cannot be relisted, which makes long-term plans much easier regarding demolition or redevelopment.
2. Five-Year Relisting Ban
New Rule: If a non-designated property is removed from the heritage register (either because no NOID is issued by the deadline or voluntarily), the municipality cannot relist the property for five years.
Impact on Demolitions
This is good news for developers and demolition companies in Toronto because once a property is off, you not only have peace of mind that for five years it won’t be added back, but also that you can move forward without fear of a last-minute heritage designation that could bring your project to a grinding halt.
3. Voluntary Removal of Listed Properties
New Rule: If a property is voluntarily removed from the heritage register after June 6, 2024, the five-year relisting ban starts from the date of removal.
If the property was removed between January 1, 2023, and June 6, 2024, different rules apply. Municipalities may still relist it before January 1, 2027, but the five-year ban applies if no designation is issued by that date.
Impact on Demolitions
This gives owners more flexibility in their capability to make voluntary applications to remove their properties from the register, which should also enable demolitions to move quicker. You will need to act fast; if the property is relisted before 2027, it goes through the process again, and it will probably continue to delay demolition.
4. Legacy Properties and Extended Timeframe
New Rule: For properties listed on the heritage register as of December 31, 2022 (known as “legacy listed properties”), municipalities now have until January 1, 2027, to designate or remove them. If no NOID is issued, the five-year ban on relisting begins.
Impact on Demolitions
This extended timeframe gives municipalities more time to protect historical properties, but it also means more predictability for developers after 2027. If the property isn’t designated by then, you have a clear five-year period to move forward with your plans.
Amendments to Ontario Heritage Act: The Round Up!
Before the amendments of 2024, the demolition of any property included in the heritage register was generally quite long and uncertain. Now, with the new rules in place, there are significant changes that affect how demolitions proceed. Let’s break down the comparison:
Before the 2024 Amendments
Designated Properties: If a property was formally designated as heritage under the Ontario Heritage Act, you couldn’t demolish it without going through a lengthy approval process. This involved applying for a heritage permit, which required municipal approval after a thorough evaluation of the property’s cultural value. This could cause significant delays, sometimes stretching for months or even years, depending on the complexity of the evaluation.
Non-designated (Listed) Properties: Although less restricted, listed properties still came with uncertainty. Property owners had to notify the municipality 60 days in advance of any planned demolition. This notice gave the municipality time to decide whether they wanted to issue a notice of intention to designate (NOID) the property. If a NOID was issued, the demolition would be halted, sometimes indefinitely. For developers, this meant navigating an unpredictable process where projects could be delayed based on the municipality’s decision to protect the property at the last minute.
Now, after the 2024 Amendments
Designated Properties: The rules for designated properties remain largely the same. You still need to apply for a heritage permit if you want to demolish a designated property. However, the clearer timelines introduced by the new amendments help provide a bit more predictability when dealing with listed properties.
Non-designated (Listed) Properties: The biggest changes affect these properties. Now, municipalities have until January 1, 2027, to decide whether to issue a NOID for properties listed on the register before 2023. If they don’t, the property is automatically removed from the heritage register, and it cannot be relisted for five years. This change gives property owners and developers more certainty: after 2027, if no NOID has been issued, you are free to proceed with demolition without fear of the property being re-added to the register for at least five years.
If you’re looking for a demolition contractor in Toronto or the GTA for a heritage-listed property in Southern Ontario, contact ALMAR Demolition. We’ll help you understand how the new rules affect your project and ensure a smooth process from start to finish.