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2025/Nov/26
OBC 2024: Get Familiar with Updates to Section 1.3.3. Occupancy of Buildings (Division C)
As mentioned in CodeNews 373 and 374, the Protect Ontario by Building Faster and Smarter Act, 2025 (Bill 17) amended the Development Charges Act, 1997 to defer payment of the local/lower tier and regional/upper tier portion of development charges for non-rental residential developments from issuance of the building permit to either occupancy permit or first occupancy. To allow for this, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH) amended Ontario's 2024 Building Code.
Click here for a link to request a copy of the amendment document. While these amendments are already in effect, the pages to update the hardcopy Compendium version of the OBC were not yet available at the time of publication of this Practice Advisory Newsletter.
Items to Flag to Your Clients
As mentioned in CodeNews 373, a municipality cannot issue the occupancy permit until it confirms the deferred development charges are paid in full. Municipalities may take up to 10 business days to complete the occupancy inspection for these developments, allowing time for any processing of deferred development charge payment.
It is important to understand municipalities may continue to issue building permits as they have done; this is a timing change only for collection of municipal development charges where the applicant elects for deferral. The technical construction requirements in Division C, Subsection 1.3.3.—which determine when a building is safe for occupancy—remain unchanged.
Practices may also want to confirm the wording of the occupancy letters they issue which reference compliance with the technical requirements of any of the affected Division C articles (1.3.3.1. to 1.3.3.7.) exclude any reference to the applicable development charges having been paid. Typically, practices have no direct knowledge of the payment of such charges.
For future reference, the Ontario Amendment Document can be requested by email at Ontario.Amendment.Document@ontario.ca.
For more information on Ontario Amendment Documents, visit https://www.ontario.ca/page/2024-ontario-building-code#section-5.
To purchase a hardcopy of the OBC 2024 Compendium, visit Publications Ontario.
This article originally appeared in an issue of Practice Advisory—a newsletter developed by the OAA’s Practice Advisory Services team, which offers numerous resources for both members and the public.
The OAA does not provide legal, insurance, or accounting advice. Readers are advised to consult their own legal, accounting, or insurance representatives to obtain suitable professional advice in those regards.