Summary: Provincial Legislation Changes & Heritage Impact

Bill 23, the More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022, came into force on January 1, 2023. The Bill implements several changes to the Ontario Heritage Act. A summary of the Ontario Heritage Act amendments implemented by Bill 23 and the City of Ottawa’s response is detailed in report ACS2023-PRE-RHU-0019.

Notably, Bill 23 amends the function of the City’s municipal heritage register and the listing of non-designated properties. These changes are summarized as follows:

• Non-designated properties listed on the City’s municipal heritage register can only be listed for a period of two years.
• If a non-designated property listed on the municipal heritage register is not designated after two years, it must be removed from the municipal heritage register.
• If a non-designated property is removed from the register after two years, it can not be re-listed for a period of five years.

The City of Ottawa’s municipal heritage register includes over 4600 non-designated properties. The majority of these properties were listed prior to the introduction of Bill 23. Therefore, the two year time limit for each listed property concludes on January 1, 2025, the two-year anniversary of Bill 23 taking effect.

As a result, the City of Ottawa is undertaking a comprehensive review of the non-designated properties listed on the heritage register to identify candidates for heritage designation prior to the two-year deadline. In addition to the City’s internal review, Heritage Planning staff will be reaching out to community associations, community organizations, and other interested groups to help inform the review and prioritize designation candidates. An online survey is also available for residents to complete to help identify important heritage places across the city.