ACO Media Release - Deadline Extension for Listed Properties

AUTHOR: ACO

DATE: May 31, 2024

ACO welcomes extended deadline to protect heritage properties

NEWS DESCRIPTION:

Architectural Conservancy Ontario (ACO) is pleased with the government's May 27 introduction of legislation to extend the deadline for municipalities to protect listed heritage properties by an additional two years to January 1, 2027.

"We asked for this at our meetings at Queen's Park in February," said ACO Provincial Board Chair Diane Chin. "We then expanded our campaign to soliciting motions and asking municipalities across Ontario to write Premier Ford to ask for a deadline extension from January 1, 2025 to January 1, 2030. We're glad to see some movement on this, and pleased that the government has given itself the power to extend the deadline further via regulation."

The challenge is huge: there are at least 36,000 listed (non-designated) heritage properties in over 100 municipalities across the province, according to the Ministry of Citizenship and Multiculturalism. Listed properties have only limited, short-term (60 day) protection. On January 1, 2025 these properties stood to lose all protection unless they were first designated and given full protection by municipal councils. Surveys undertaken by ACO and Community Heritage Ontario found that no municipality believed it could write and pass all the needed by-laws by the end of the year.

“ACO was and remains opposed to the degrading of municipalities’ listing power into a mere stop-gap step towards heritage designation,” noted Chin, “since it has been such an important planning and short-term protection tool on its own.” As ACO warned in December 2022, forcing municipalities to designate all listed properties within two years or drop them from the register was draconian and totally unrealistic. ACO still opposes deadlines and expiry dates, but is glad that the government has recognized the magnitude of the task imposed on municipalities and given them more time to pursue protection options.

ACO notes that there is an opportunity until June 26 to comment about the proposed legislation on the Environmental Registry of Ontario https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/019-8738  "We hope municipalities will take this opportunity to let the Ministry know about any additional help they need to protect their heritage properties," said Chin.