Section 37

Every city has a planning department and the City of Toronto as its Official Plan. The plan shows the areas that developers can build condos and states the maximum building heights, the maximum number of units that can be built and the amount of open space and offsets from the road that that is required.

Section 37 of the province's Planning Act permits the City to authorize increases in permitted height and/or density in return for community benefits. The municipalities bargain with developers who want to exceed height or density limits on their projects.

The Section 37 Implementation Guidelines were adopted by City Council on November 20, 2007. They are designed for securing specific types of community benefits.

Section 37 lists a number of ways a developer can build a development that is in variance of the city’s guidelines. They include:


saving heritage buildings or front facades;
• 
Fully furnished and equipped non-profit child care facilities, including startup funding;
• 
Public art and other non-profit arts, cultural, community or institutional facilities;
• 
Parkland, and/or park improvements and public access to ravines and valleys;
• 
Rental housing to replace demolished rental housing, or preservation of existing rental housing; purpose built rental housing with mid-range or affordable rents, land for affordable housing, affordable ownership housing, or, at the discretion of the owner, cash-in-lieu of affordable rental or ownership units or land;
• 
Land for other municipal purposes;

Other local improvements identified through Community Improvement.

The idea is that if a developer gives money or land to give the city parks, playground equipment, affordable housing, road improvements or other benefits, the builder can exceed building heights and density requirements.

The money or capital benefits stay within the ward and are negotiated between the councillor, city planning department and the builder.

Affordable housing
Now there are pressures being put on the province to include "inclusionary zoning". That system, which is currently in use in New York City and Vancouver, allows cities to ask developers to provide a component of affordable housing in each new development.

This is already starting to happen in the downtown Toronto wards with Section 37 monies being used to provide some affordable rental units and affordable housing prices in new condo developments.

Section 37 brochure

In October 2014, the city of Toronto published a brochure describing Section 37, how it works and the benefits it provides to the local community.

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