OPINION: The City of Vaughan is leading by example on development charges 

Temporarily reducing development charges to zero for shovel-ready residential projects means housing will become more affordable for Vaughan new homebuyers. Photo by Supplied

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The City of Vaughan made a historic move on April 28 – one that has never occurred in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) as long as development charges have been in use and, to my knowledge, has only occurred in North Bay and for a period of time in St. Catharines. With respect to those communities, never in an Ontario municipality with Vaughan’s population case.    

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Led by Mayor Steven Del Duca and the city council, Vaughan has temporarily reduced all development charges (DCs) to zero, I repeat zero dollars, for the city portion of the DCs for shovel-ready residential housing projects. In addition, the city is also further reducing development fees on new housing applications.  

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Anyone who has ever heard Mayor Del Duca speak on this subject (as I have many times), knows why Vaughan is a leader amongst Ontario municipalities on DCs. The mayor is a father and believes very strongly that future generations should have the ability to live in the communities where they grew up. He understands that in order for that to happen, we need both housing supply and affordability – two factors that development charges have an impact on.  

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Development charges are a one-time upfront payment paid by developers to municipalities to help fund infrastructure and service-related growth; for example, water and wastewater systems, roads, parks and ambulances. These charges are then passed on to the new homebuyer as a cost embedded into the price of a new home. In two-tier municipalities, both the City and the Region (York in this case) have the ability to levy development charges. 

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The cost of DCs has risen by unprecedented levels, with some municipalities experiencing a 1,000 per cent increase over the last 15 years.  

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Just two short years ago, Vaughan had some of the highest DC rates in the GTA. Now, for a period of time and for projects that are ready to go, the city portion of the DCs rate will be zero.  

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While the Region of York still levies development charges, the practical implications is that for larger apartment units these DCs have been reduced from over $120,000 per unit to just over $60,000 now. 

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This new zero-DCs policy should have an immediate impact on housing growth in Vaughan. 

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Temporarily reducing development charges to zero for shovel-ready residential projects means housing will become more affordable for Vaughan new homebuyers. It also means that housing project starts and completions will increase, and project viability will strengthen. More projects will move from approvals to construction to housing supply quicker. 

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The DCs exemption is in effect retroactively from February 25, 2026 until October 31, 2027. Importantly, this time period captures the entirety of a traditional construction season to fully maximize support for additional housing starts. 

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In addition to reducing DCs to zero for residential housing projects, Vaughan city council has also adopted further reductions in their development fee’s structure.  

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They have introduced a 25 per cent reduction on all engineering and planning fees for residential applications, and a 100 per cent reduction on the same fees for purpose-built, non-luxury market rental applications. These reductions will also run until October 31, 2027.