Despite “immense pressure” to build more housing in Ottawa, a city audit has found that key parts of the development process are getting slower.
“Bottlenecks” and “inconsistent expectations” across city departments are contributing to a ballooning timeline from when developments are approved by the city to when they’re eventually registered with the province, according to a report discussed at the city’s audit committee Friday.
That sluggish post-approval process comes at no small cost, as the audit found delays can cause construction and administrative expenses for developers to pile up — limiting housing builds and potentially driving prices higher.
“It’s really important to get these homes built as soon as possible and ensure that the affordability of these homes isn’t impacted,” said Nathalie Gougeon, the city’s auditor general, in an interview.
Average post-approval period has doubled since 2022
Gougeon’s report looked at the city’s process for reviewing development applications and its ability to manage them effectively.
It keyed in on what the city calls the “post-approval agreement development stage.” That’s the period of time between when a development earns the city’s stamp of approval and when it gets registered with the Land Registry Office of Ontario.
During that period, the city’s legal team helps write and execute legal agreements with the developer before a project is submitted for registration.
Nathalie Gougeon, Ottawa’s auditor general, says homes should be built ‘as soon as possible.’ (Jean Delisle/CBC)
It’s a “crucial” part of the development process, according to the auditor’s report, because it draws up legally binding obligations for the developer while often serving as a prerequisite to unlock funding.
But until this month, the city had no dedicated solicitors who focused exclusively on development agreements — in contrast to established practice at some other municipalities.
“According to developers, delays in the agreement process have been one of the most significant pain points and can cause housing development closings to be missed,” the report said.
For projects registered last year, the report found the post-approval period lasted an average of 649 days, more than double the 284-day average in 2022.
The timeline for subdivision plans was likewise up, reaching an average of 1,319 days. In both cases, the report noted that the figures are averages and are pulled up by outliers.
City dedicates 2 lawyers to reviewing agreements
Gougeon said she recognizes developments are becoming more complex, as previously undeveloped land becomes scarcer and complicated builds in existing urban areas became more common.
Nonetheless, she said internal legal issues are also contributing to delays.
“We’ve issued recommendations with regards to performing a resourcing analysis to ensure that the right individuals are put in place in order to help speed up that timeline,” Gougeon said.
The report made seven recommendations, including that the city solicitor should perform a resourcing analysis to accelerate the registration process, formally define and communicate expectations for agreements and start tracking applications post-approval.
Stuart Huxley, solicitor for the City of Ottawa, said two lawyers are now dedicated to reviewing development agreements. (Francis Ferland/CBC)
City solicitor Stuart Huxley told the committee that starting this month, the city’s legal services department now has two lawyers dedicated to reviewing development agreements.
“We’ll evaluate that process to get through this bottleneck and reduce the turnaround times,” he said.
Gougeon’s report also found that subject matter experts are challenged to consistently provide complete feedback due to shortened timelines from legislation meant to hasten developments.
The report’s other recommendations include ensuring that key subject matter experts are consulted throughout the application process and are adequately resourced and that comments from internal and external stakeholders during the review process should be documented.
