Ford government uses MZO to speed up Ontario Place development

The Doug Ford government says it is fast-tracking its redevelopment of Ontario Place through the use of a powerful planning tool.

In a news release on Friday, Ontario Infrastructure Minister Kinga Surma said the provincial government has made an enhanced minister's zoning order to proceed with its plans for Ontario Place. The order enables the province to override Toronto's planning policies and processes.

"To ensure the Ontario Place rebuild continues without delays, our government made an enhanced Minister's Zoning Order (eMZO) to provide development permissions for new and existing land uses at Ontario Place," Surma said in the release. 

The release describes the eMZO as a land use planning tool that will allow the province to maintain site plan control for portions of the site and make "much-needed improvements" to the publicly accessible open space on Ontario Place's East Island. The order also allows for "expanded public spaces and parks on the West Island," it says.

Ontario's controversial plans for Ontario Place include a new massive spa and indoor water park, to be built by Austria-based Therme Canada, as well as a new Ontario Science Centre and more than 20 hectares of green space and beaches.

The eMZO will "exempt certain parts of the Ontario Place site from the municipal site plan process," Ash Milton, press secretary for the minister, said in an email Friday.

Norm Di Pasquale, chair of the advocacy group Ontario Place for All, condemned the move on Friday, saying the use of the order is questionable and the group is disappointed with the news.

"The province is using an MZO to steal Ontario Place land and short circuit the development application process that was underway at city hall," Di Pasquale said in a news release.

"Shame on this government that refuses to consult properly or follow any laws or processes as they move to obliterate West Island."  

Di Pasquale said the issuing of an eMZO by the infrastructure minister also sets a "terrible" precedent.

"We are concerned that the questionable actions this government is taking to privatize Ontario Place will be applied to other Ontario public institutions in the near future," Di Pasquale said in the release.

Order comes after new deal between province and city

The eMZO was posted online on the Environmental Registry of Ontario late Friday.

On the website, the government says the eMZO seeks to achieve four objectives: "establish land use permissions for the entire site; establish detailed development permissions (i.e. height, gross floor area, and setback requirements); exempt some parts of the site from municipal site plan control; direct that the City of Toronto's Official Plan cannot prevent the issuance of any licence, permits, or approvals for Ontario Place."

The news release also says that earlier this month, Infrastructure Ontario released a request for qualifications to begin "the procurement process to identify a team that will design, build, finance and maintain the new state-of-the-art home for the Ontario Science Centre."

In November, Ford and Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow announced a new deal that would see the province take control of two Toronto highways and the city approve the province's plans to redevelop Ontario Place.

Under the Rebuilding Ontario Place Act, 2023, the infrastructure minister has the ability to issue ministerial zoning orders, a power previously limited to the municipal affairs and housing minister. The bill also exempts the province from the Environmental Bill of Rights.