Development Charges Initiative

NOTICE OF THE PASSING OF A

DEVELOPMENT CHARGES BY-LAW

BY THE COUNTY OF ESSEX

TAKE NOTICE that the Council of the County of Essex passed Development Charge

By-law No. 2026-02 on the 4th day of February 2026, under Section 2 of the Development Charges Act, 1997.

AND TAKE NOTICE that any person or organization may appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal under Section 14 of the Development Charges Act, in respect of the Development Charges By-law, by filing with the Clerk of the County of Essex on or before Monday, March 16th, 2026 a notice of appeal setting out the objection to the By-law and the reasons supporting the objection. Appeals filed with the Office of the Clerk at 360 Fairview Ave W., Essex ON, N8M 1Y6, will be accepted on or before Monday, March 16th, 2026. A processing fee will be payable to the County of Essex’s Clerk’s Office with the appeal application. The appellant is advised to contact the Ontario Land Tribunal to access required forms and applicable fees.

The development charges in By-law No. 2026-02 will apply to all new residential and non-residential development in the County, subject to certain terms, conditions and limited exemptions as identified therein.

Development charges are levied against new development to pay for the increased capital costs related to the provision of such municipal services as Library Services, Ambulance Services, Waste Diversion, Development-Related Studies, Land Acquisition and Services Related to a Highway. A key map has not been provided as the development charges are imposed on the development of all lands located within the geographic boundaries of the County.

The development charges imposed under the By-law came into effect on the 4th day of February 2026. Copies of the complete Development Charge By-law are available for examination during regular business hours (weekdays from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) in the offices of the County located at 360 Fairview Ave W., Essex ON, N8M 1Y6 and on the website at:

https://www.countyofessex.ca/dci

For further information, please contact the Clerk’s Office at 519-776-6441, or through email at clerks@countyofessex.ca

Dated at the County of Essex, this 17th day, February 2026.

County of Essex

360 Fairview Ave W.

Essex ON, N8M 1Y6

February 2026: Development Charges approved, with delayed phase-in

On Wednesday, February 4, 2026, County Council voted to approve the establishment of Development Charges for the County of Essex.

Development Charges are fees paid by developers to help ensure growth pays for growth and that the costs of expanded County services and infrastructure related to growth are not borne by current residents. Development charges are commonly applied in local municipalities but had never been levied by the County of Essex.

County administration on February 4, 2026 presented for Council’s consideration a final report on Development Charges that offered two options.

Option A was the original draft By-law as presented on October 1, 2025 – a five-year term of Development Charges with no charges applied until January 2027 and then phased in at 25 per cent annual increments over the following four years, reaching full rates by 2030. That option was approved by Council, but with an amendment to delay everything by one year. Thus, no Development Charges on new residential construction in the County will be applied until January 2028, with full rates – after 25 per cent annual increases – being reached in 2031.

The full Development Charge for each qualifying, new, single or semi-detached residential home in the County will be $8,589 at the conclusion of the phase-in period. Development charges are triggered when a building permit is issued, so only those permits issued on or after January 1, 2028, will be subject to the charges, with collection on the following phased-in schedule (showing aggregate payments for qualifying single or semi-detached residential homes):

No affordable-built homes will incur this charge.

Option B would have extended the phase-in term from five to 10 years. Development Charges on qualifying newly built dwellings would have begun in January 2027, then been phased in at 11.11 per cent per year over the following nine years, reaching full rates by 2035.

Both options were prepared in compliance with the Development Charges Act, 1997, and maintained the same overall scope, methodology and service inclusions. The County carried out extensive engagement throughout the process, with public information sessions in each local municipality and targeted consultations with developers, planners and municipal treasurers.

Spring 2025

Updated on May 6, 2025: Development Charges Background Study

Updated on May 6, 2025: Development Charges Background Study and By-Law Presentation for April 2, 2025, Council Meeting (Note: The updated Background Study provides correct information for development charges in LaSalle.)

Development Charges Study — Draft Rates Report for April 2, 2025, Council Meeting

The County of Essex is considering the adoption of development charges to pay for growth-related expansion of the services it provides. It has hired Hemson Consulting Ltd. to conduct a study to forecast future growth, assess current service levels and determine the eligible growth-related costs of County services. The study is the first step in a process required for the County of Essex to adopt a Development Charges By-law.

2024

The Development Charges Act, 1997, governs the collection of development charges. The intent of development charges is to ensure that infrastructure costs arising from increasing population and employment are fully funded by development that benefits from the introduction of new services (user-pays approach). Development charges have been established by municipalities to ensure that these costs are not borne by existing residents and businesses through property taxes or water/sewer rates.

A 2009 background for the County of Essex Official Plan recommended the County consider development charges as a method to ensure that developers bore the costs of growth-related needs in the region, rather than burdening residents with the expense.

One of the goals of the County of Essex Strategic Plan 2024-2027 is to help create the conditions to make the region a powerhouse in public and private investment attraction by providing reliable infrastructure for partners. To achieve this, the County will, among other things: “Explore sustainable funding and financing options for long-term infrastructure planning including the introduction of development charges to fund growth infrastructure.”

To date, the County has not had a Development Charges By-law and due to the amount of growth anticipated, it would be appropriate to have the ability to fund growth related services and infrastructure through the levy of fees to the benefitting new development.

For more background, read these reports:

May 15, 2024: Advancement of a County Development Charges Study and By-law

Nov. 6, 2024: Update on the County Development Charges Study and By-law

The initial process

The initial phase of this endeavour involves commencing a Development Charges Background Study to establish a strategic road map for further action.

The Development Charges Background Study is required under the Development Charges Act to include:

• A forecast of the amount, type and location of future development;
• The average services levels provided by the County over the 15-year period immediately preceding the preparation of the background study;
• Capital cost calculations for each of the eligible development charge related services;
• An examination of the long-term capital and operating costs for infrastructure required to service the forecasted development; and
• The asset management plan to demonstrate that all assets included in the study are financially sustainable over the full life cycle.

The County must complete a Development Charges Background Study process to adopt a by-law to collect development charges. The Development Charges Background Study will need to be prepared in concert with local development charges by-laws regarding land needs and growth areas as well as attributable services.

The County Development Charges Study will assess County-wide services, including library, land ambulance, long-term care, roads and waste diversion. The study will need to determine if there are any components to any of these costs that are covered by the local municipality. For example, it will consider how much of the costs for libraries are covered by the local municipalities and how much by the county. The majority of the costs will be County-wide services; however, it may be appropriate to consider area specific services attributable to certain municipalities or large-scale greenfield areas where growth related road improvements will be necessary. The County will be relying on the consultant tasked with undertaking the Development Charges Study to make recommendations in this regard.

See the Nov. 6, 2024, presentation to Essex County Council by Hemson Consulting Ltd.

Frequently asked questions

Q: Why are development charges being considered? 

A: Development charges ensure that new growth pays for the infrastructure needed to support it. This approach prevents the cost of expanding services from being passed onto existing residents and businesses.

Ostensible initial timeline

To ensure a structured approach to the Development Charges Study and By-Law process, a timeline for completing tasks was established and is shown below.

How to stay in touch

Join our project notification list by contacting County of Essex Development Charges Study Project Manager, Melissa Ryan, Director, Financial Services/Treasurer at mryan@countyofessex.ca.