Residents First Insights
One of the most rewarding parts of this campaign has been the conversations I've had with residents across Pickering. Whether it's at the door, at community events, or over a coffee, people have shared thoughtful questions and important concerns about the future of our city.
Many of those conversations have revealed that municipal issues are often more complex than they first appear, and that there is a lot of information residents simply aren't given.
I've created this page to help change that.
Here you'll find straightforward, easy-to-understand information on some of the issues that matter most to our community. My goal is to explain how these issues affect Pickering, what authority Council actually has, and where I stand.
This is a living resource that will continue to grow throughout the campaign as I meet more residents and hear more ideas. I encourage you to check back regularly over the coming months as new topics are added.
Because good decisions start with good information.
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Understanding Development Charges
1. What is the issue?
As Pickering continues to grow, new homes, apartments, businesses, and employment lands require additional infrastructure and municipal services. That includes roads, parks, recreation facilities, libraries, stormwater systems, water and wastewater infrastructure, fire protection, and other public investments that allow our community to function.
To help pay for this growth, municipalities collect Development Charges (DCs) from developers. Development charges are authorized under Ontario's Development Charges Act and are intended to recover a portion of the capital costs associated with growth. Before a municipality can collect them, it must complete a detailed Development Charges Background Study and pass a Development Charges By-law.
Development charges are one of the most important financial tools municipalities have, but they are not designed to pay for every cost associated with growth.
2. Why should residents care?
Growth affects everyone.
When growth is well planned and appropriately funded, it can bring new housing, new jobs, new businesses, and improved community amenities.
However, the financial reality is more complex than many people realize.
Pickering's 2025 Development Charges Background Study estimates approximately $1 billion in growth-related capital costs over the planning period. Under Ontario's current legislative framework, approximately $505 million can be recovered through development charges, while approximately $498 million must be funded through other sources. In other words, for every $1.00 of growth-related capital costs, the City must fund approximately 49.7 cents through other means (
Report to Council).
Those other funding sources can include:
- Long-term debt
- Reserve funds
- Grants from other levels of government
- Other municipal funding sources
This does not automatically mean higher property taxes. However, it does mean that growth creates long-term financial obligations that Council must carefully manage.
There's another important factor that often gets overlooked.
Infrastructure isn't always built at the same time growth occurs. Sometimes roads, water systems, or recreation facilities need to be built years before new residents arrive. Other times, growth happens in different areas than originally expected, creating new demands on existing infrastructure.
That's why planning matters just as much as growth itself.
This isn't really a debate about whether Pickering should grow. It's about making sure growth is planned responsibly and paid for as fairly as possible.
3. What authority does Council actually have?
This is where many people are surprised.
Council does not decide what Ontario law allows municipalities to recover through development charges. Those rules are established by the Province through the Development Charges Act and related regulations.
Council does, however, make several important decisions that directly affect how growth is managed.
Council is responsible for:
- Approving and updating the City's Development Charges By-law.
- Approving the required Development Charges Background Study.
- Determining which growth-related capital projects are included in the City's long-term infrastructure plans.
- Deciding when infrastructure projects proceed and how they are financed through development charges, reserves, debt, grants, and other funding sources.
- Managing the timing and phasing of growth to reduce financial risk wherever possible.
- Advocating to the Province when municipalities need additional funding tools or legislative changes.
Perhaps most importantly, Council has a responsibility to communicate openly and honestly with residents about the long-term financial implications of growth.
4. Where do I stand?
I support growth that is responsible, financially sustainable, and planned with residents in mind.
That means:
- Growth should contribute as much as possible toward the cost of the infrastructure it requires, wherever provincial legislation allows.
- Infrastructure investments should be carefully planned so that construction is aligned with actual growth whenever practical.
- Residents deserve clear, transparent information about the long-term costs, funding sources, and financial risks associated with major growth-related projects.
- Council should continually review whether growth is occurring where it was planned, and whether infrastructure investments are keeping pace in the most financially responsible way.
- Where provincial legislation limits a municipality's ability to recover growth-related costs, I will advocate for fair funding tools that better protect municipal taxpayers while continuing to support responsible housing and economic development.
Growth is essential to Pickering's future. But growth should also be financially responsible.
Before approving major growth-related infrastructure, Council should be able to answer three simple questions:
How will we build it? How will we operate it? And how will we maintain it over its entire life?
Residents deserve those answers before the decisions are made.
Growth should strengthen our community, not quietly shift today's costs onto tomorrow's taxpayers.