Ottawa’s auditor general warns bottlenecks at City Hall slowing down housing approval process

A construction worker works from a lift in a new housing development in Ottawa on Friday, Oct. 14, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Ottawa’s auditor general warns “bottlenecks and inconsistent expectations” across all departments at Ottawa City Hall are increasing the timelines for housing development application approvals, which could “ultimately impact affordability.”

The audit, led by Auditor General Nathalie Gougeon’s office, finds the average time for the post-approval stage to register agreements has increased to over a year for site control plans, and to more than three-and-a-half years for subdivisions from draft approval to registering the agreement.

The report makes seven recommendations to improve the development application review process, including ensuring sufficient resources and staff, and establishing formal authorities for decision-making within the process.

Gougeon’s audit notes the city is under “immense pressure” from the federal and Ontario governments, the housing industry and council to “expedite development approvals.” The report says the city’s Planning Services department introduced a “team approach to file management,” which has resulted in decreasing net city processing times for decisions with many applications.

“Despite the efforts and dedication across all City departments, bottlenecks and inconsistent expectations across City departments remain and have resulted in increasing overall development review timelines for specific types of applications,” the audit concludes.

“This is most prominent in the post-approval agreement development stage, where significant delays can result in legal risks as well as increased developer costs which can ultimately impact affordability.”

According to the auditor’s report, the average time for post-approval activities for development applications increased from 284 days in 2022 to 649 days in 2024, while the number of agreements registered dropped from 68 to 50. Meantime, the number of days the post-draft approval times for subdivision plans jumped from 834 days in 2022 to 1,319 days in 2024.

Gougeon’s report notes resource constraints have been a challenge to finalize agreements and says there are no dedicated solicitors within Ottawa’s Legal Services branch to focus on development agreements.

Gougeon’s seven recommendations include:

• The City Solicitor determine the appropriate number of dedicated Legal Services staff needed to “effectively prepare, advance and register development agreements.”
• The City Solicitor formally defining and communicating internal and external expectations and requirements for preparing, advancing and registering developing agreements.
• The city implements a “common tracking of files in post-approval” to ensure consistent and complete insights on the status of files.
• The Director of Planning Services works with internal partners within Planning, Development and Building Department to establish formal authorities for decision-making within the application review process.
• The city establish protocols for the file lead maintaining sufficient documentation of the resolution of all comments from internal and external stakeholders.
• The city reviews key performance indicators related to development applications and considers reporting on additional measures to enhance transparency and program evaluation.

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe welcomed the auditor general’s investigation.

“The Auditor General’s report confirms what we’ve been hearing from the community: we need a better and faster process for housing approvals,” Sutcliffe said in a social media post.

“That’s why several months ago I launched the Housing Innovation Task Force, which has produced substantial recommendations for cutting red tape, fixing our processes, reducing costs on new homes, and fostering a culture that says yes to more housing.”