Brownfields Redevelopment  Toolbox

Step 3 - Transaction

Step 3 - Transaction (sub-directory)

Prepare Community Improvement Plans (CIP)

A Community Improvement Plan (CIP) is an important tool as it allows a municipality to direct funds and implement policy changes that would normally be unavailable for a specifically defined area.

Community Improvement is defined under the Planning Act as, “the planning or re-planning, design or re-design, re-subdivision, clearance, development or redevelopment, reconstruction and rehabilitation, or any of them, of a Community Improvement Project Area, and the provision of such residential, commercial, industrial, public, recreational, institutional, religious, charitable or other uses, buildings, works, improvements or facilities, or spaces therefore, as may be appropriate or necessary”. 

A Community Improvement Plan (CIP) is a plan for the community improvement of a community improvement project area. Note: The municipal Official Plan must first have community improvement policies before a CIP can be approved.

Community Improvement Project Area refers to “a municipality or an area within a municipality, of which community improvement, in the opinion of the council, is desirable because of age, dilapidation, overcrowding, faulty arrangement, unsuitability of buildings or for any other environmental, social or community economic development reason”.

 Getting Started: A CIP Approach
In Ontario, the community improvement provisions under the Planning Act (section 28) provide a beneficial and comprehensive planning framework for brownfield rehabilitation decisions and actions.

The CIP framework:
  • Addresses property rehabilitation, brownfields cleanup and redevelopment programs;
  • Provides for public consultation, which builds public support for municipal rehabilitation projects; and
  • Permits planning and financial-assistance programs involving lands, buildings, loans, grants and tax assistance with the approval of the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
Did you know . . .
Municipalities generally use financial incentives for brownfields to encourage restoration where remediation and redevelopment might not otherwise occur.

Developing Your Own Community Improvement Plan Program
  • Developing this type of program, whether done in-house or by consultants, generally requires some basic steps before a plan is approved (either at the municipal level or by the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, if it includes financial assistance programs). 
  • The approach to developing any community improvement plan program will depend on local circumstances. For example, is the program brand new or a current one being amended to expand an existing rehabilitation program?
  • In the following hypothetical program, a three-phase approach illustrates how a program can be developed. Within each phase, steps and associated elements are suggested to facilitate a smoother process.
Did you know . . .
Early discussions with staff at your local Municipal Services Office (regional offices of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing) can help you with your community-improvement planning.

What Can Municipalities Do Under Section 28 (Planning Act) as amended by the Brownfields Statute Law Amendment Act?
  • Acquire, hold, clear or grade land for community improvement purposes;
  • Construct, repair, rehabilitate or improve buildings on land acquired or held by the municipality;
  • Sell, lease or dispose of lands and buildings acquired or held by the municipality;
  • Give loans and grants to registered owners, assessed owners and tenants of lands and buildings within the community improvement project area, and to any persons to whom such an owner or tenant has assigned the right to receive a grant or loan, to pay for the whole or any part of the costs of rehabilitating such lands and buildings in conformity with the community improvement plan;
  • Provide tax assistance by freezing or canceling the municipal portion of the property tax on eligible properties for remediation purposes; and 
  • Issue debentures with the approval of the Ontario Municipal Board.
It should be noted that the Legislation does not define “Rehabilitation”. Rehabilitation as a policy matter, contemplates the restoration of land or buildings that are in a state of decline, deterioration or deficiency. 

Limits to the Amount of Grants or Loans:
  • Applicability: Subsection 28(7.1) of the Planning Act limits the amount of grants or loans that can be provided by a municipality in a CIP. This subsection limits the amount of grants / loans to “the cost of rehabilitating the lands and buildings”.
  • Bonusing: Section 106 of the Municipal Act restricts municipalities from providing financial incentives to businesses, like:
    1. Giving or lending any property of the municipality, including money
    2. Leasing or selling any property of the municipality at below fair market value, and
    3. Giving a total or partial exemption from any levy, charge or fee
 I. Program Foundation

This first phase is critical. Once a municipality has decided that it might want to embark on a community improvement plan approach, it needs to establish the basis of its brownfields program. Here are some key steps that municipal staff might follow:
  1. Identify the need for community improvement - this includes a vision, targeted brownfield areas, goals and objectives, and a review of the costs and benefits before committing to a program.
  2. Report to council on designating the community improvement project area by bylaw and developing your policies.
  3. Establish a mechanism for garnering public support for direction to facilitate the process and avoid an Ontario Municipal Board hearing.
  4. Do your background research and analysis to provide the foundation and rationale for municipal community improvement actions:
    • Analyse planning, land use, environmental and other policies and requirements that apply to the project area (for example, does your official plan contain community improvement related provisions as required by subsection 28(2) of the Planning Act?);
    • Analyse the physical, social and economic characteristics in the identified project area, including environmental information and historic property information; and
    • Analyse municipal resources and administrative requirements as well as capacity for implementing a program.
  5. Report back to council for authorization to designate your project area through a municipal bylaw.
  6. Draft your community improvement plan in terms of goals – then develop municipal strategies, actions and, if appropriate, brownfields-related land and financial assistance programs. Your plan may include important program details such as:
    • Program goals
    • Program duration
    • Eligibility criteria
    • Payment of financial assistance
    • Application process
    • General program administration information
    • Agreement requirements
 II. Legislative Process 

Before proceeding with the review of the CIP, the following checklist should be completed:
  • Was a Municipal Services Office (MSO) staff involved in pre-consultation as required by subsection 17(15 a) of the Planning Act?
  • If there are missing documents or legislative requirements (e.g., notices) that have not been followed, then staff should contact the municipality to discuss the omissions or return the plan with an explanation.
  • Staff must consider whether the requirements of subsections 17(31), (32) and (33) of the Planning Act, and Ontario Reg. 198/96 have been met (e.g., notice of public meeting, notice of adoption, forwarding of record, etc.).
  • Are there official plan policies that permit the development of a CIP?
  • Does the CIP contain programs under ss. 28(6) and (7)? If yes, Minister’s approval is required
Under section 28 of the Planning Act, a community improvement plan requires a formal public consultation process. Here are some key steps:
  1. Schedule and hold the public meeting according to the legislative requirements.
  2. Finalize your plan policies on the basis of public input and information received.
  3. Forward the finalized plan to council to obtain funding commitment and for adoption.
  4. Forward the adopted plan with financial-assistance programs to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for a decision. The Minister may refuse, modify or approve your plan.
 III. Implementation

Your community improvement plan has been approved and there are no appeals to the Ontario Municipal Board. You are now ready to start. Here are some key steps:
  1. Implement and administer programs for each financial assistance program. Think of your role as a facilitator of your community improvement goals.
  2. Evaluate and approve applications for financial assistance and where applicable, enter into agreements with eligible applicants.
  3. Implement ongoing monitoring and evaluation procedures to put your programs into action. 
  4. Review each program periodically to determine whether municipal goals are being achieved and whether modifications are necessary. 

Information provided under the CIP framework was adapted from the following presentations and documents: