Ontario Land Tribunal
Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire
ISSUE DATE: October 15, 2025
CASE NO(S).: OLT-25-000240
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 29(11) of the Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. O.18, as amended
Appellants: Jiao Sun
Subject: Passing of By-law 2025-29
Description: To designate as a property of cultural heritage and value of interest
Reference Number: By-law 2025-29
Property Address: 429 Botsford Street
Municipality: Town of Newmarket
OLT Case No.: OLT-25-000240
OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-25-000240
OLT Case Name: Sun v. Newmarket (Town)
Heard: August 15, 2025 by Video Hearing
APPEARANCES:
Parties
Counsel*/Representative
Jiao Sun
Patrick Mai (paralegal)
Town of Newmarket
Barbara Montgomery*
MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY JENNIFER CAMPBELL ON AUGUST 15, 2025 AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL
INTRODUCTION
1This Decision arises from a Case Management Conference (“CMC”) of the Tribunal regarding an appeal by Jiao Sun (“Appellant”) concerning the passing by the Town of Newmarket (“Town”) of By-law 2025-29 (“Designation By-Law”) designating the property municipally known as 429 Botsford Street, Newmarket, Ontario (“Property”) as being of cultural heritage, value or interest pursuant to the Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. O.18, as amended (“OHA”).
2At the CMC, the Parties considered an Issues List (“IL”) and Procedural Order (“PO”), hearing dates were set and opportunities for settlement were discussed.
BACKGROUND
3On February 10, 2025, the Town passed the Designation By-Law which designated the Property to be of cultural heritage value and/or interest pursuant to subsection 29(1) of the OHA, on the basis that it meets at least two out of the nine criteria outlined in Ontario Regulation 9/06.
4The Appellant has appealed the Designation By-Law to the Tribunal pursuant to subsection 29(11) of the OHA.
Procedural Order and Issues List
5The Tribunal reviewed a draft PO and IL, which set forth the issues to be adjudicated at the Hearing as follows:
Appellant
Does the subject property meet the minimum two criteria required by Ontario Regulation 9/06 for heritage designation under section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act?
Was the City’s heritage evaluation sufficiently accurate, objective, and consistent with professional standards?
Was the process for designating the property procedurally fair to the Appellant?
Is the property truly representative of the claimed architectural style and historical context as required by O. Reg. 9/06?
Is the designation by-law appropriate, or does it constitute an overreach beyond the heritage justification?
Town of Newmarket
- Does the property at 429 Botsford Street meet a minimum of two heritage criteria as required by section 29(1) of the Ontario Heritage Act, and by O. Reg. 9/06: Criteria for Determining Cultural Heritage Value or Interest, for designation as a property of cultural heritage value or interest?
6After discussion, the Parties agreed that the IL shall be amended to (i) consolidate the Appellant’s issues #1, 4 and 5 with the Town’s issue #1, on the basis that they each address the same issue; and (ii) remove the Appellants’ issues #2 and 3. The Parties agreed that a proposed final version of the IL would be delivered to the Tribunal on or prior to August 22, 2025. The Tribunal subsequently consented to an extension to this deadline.
7Following the CMC, the finalized IL and PO was delivered to the Tribunal by the Parties. The Tribunal had no objections to the finalized IL and PO.
Hearing Dates
8At the request of the Parties, the Tribunal proceeded to schedule a hearing in respect of this matter to be held by video hearing on Wednesday, January 14, 2026 to Friday, January 16, 2026, commencing at 10 a.m.
9Parties and/or Participants and/or Observers are asked to log in to the event at least 15 minutes before it begins to test their video and audio connections:
GoTo Meeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/660145013
Access code: 660-145-013
10Parties and/or participants are asked to access and set up the application well in advance of the event to avoid unnecessary delay. The desktop application can be downloaded at GoToMeeting or a web application is available: https://app.gotomeeting.com/home.html
11Persons who experience technical difficulties accessing the GoToMeeting application or who only wish to listen to the event can connect to the event by calling into an audio-only telephone line: (Toll-Free) 1-888-299-1889 or +1 (647) 497-9373. The access code is as indicated above.
12Individuals are directed to connect to the event on the assigned date at the correct time. It is the responsibility of the persons participating in the hearing by video to ensure that they are properly connected to the event at the correct time. Questions prior to the hearing event may be directed to the Tribunal’s Case Coordinator having carriage of this case.
Settlement Opportunities
13The Parties also discussed opportunities for settlement and expressed a mutual willingness to engage in settlement discissions. The Tribunal encouraged such endeavours.
ORDER
14The Tribunal orders that:
(i) the Procedural Order and Issues List appended at Schedule “A” hereto shall be the Procedural Order and Issues List in respect of the hearing in this matter.
15There will be no further notice.
16This Member is not seized.
“Jennifer Campbell”
JENNIFER CAMPBELL
MEMBER
Ontario Land Tribunal
Website: www.olt.gov.on.ca Telephone: 416-212-6349 Toll Free: 1-866-448-2248
The Conservation Review Board, the Environmental Review Tribunal, the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal and the Mining and Lands Tribunal are amalgamated and continued as the Ontario Land Tribunal (“Tribunal”). Any reference to the preceding tribunals or the former Ontario Municipal Board is deemed to be a reference to the Tribunal.
Schedule “A”
ISSUE DATE: ________, 2025 CASE NO.: OLT-25-000240
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 29(11) of the Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. O.18, as amended
Appellants: Jiao Sun
Subject: Passing of By-law 2025-29
Description: To designate as a property of cultural heritage and value of interest
Reference Number: By-law 2025-29
Property Address: 429 Botsford Street
Municipality: Town of Newmarket
OLT Case No.: OLT-25-000240
OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-25-000240
OLT Case Name: Sun v. Newmarket (Town)
PROCEDURAL ORDER
- The Tribunal may vary or add to the directions in this procedural order at any time by an oral ruling or by another written order, either on the Parties’ request or its own motion.
Organization of the Hearing
The video hearing will begin on January 14, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. as directed in the Tribunal's Decision and Order.
The length of the hearing will be 2 days. The Parties are expected to cooperate to reduce the length of the hearing by eliminating redundant evidence and attempting to reach settlements on issues, where possible. The procedural order deadlines are generally found in Attachment 1.
The Parties and Participants identified at the Case Management Conference are listed in Attachment 2 to this Order.
The Issues are set out in the Issues List attached as Attachment 3 to this Order. The Parties will attempt to resolve the issues prior to the hearing on the merits of the appeal. There will be no changes to the Issues List unless the Tribunal permits, and a Party who asks for changes may have costs awarded against it.
The order of evidence is tentatively set out in Attachment 4 to this Order, but may be changed at the request of the Parties in advance of the hearing. The Tribunal may limit the amount of time allocated for opening statements, evidence in chief (including the qualification of witnesses), cross-examination, evidence in reply and final argument. The length of written argument, if any, may be limited either on the Parties' consent, subject to the Tribunal’s approval, or by Order of the Tribunal.
Any person intending to participate in the hearing shall provide a mailing address, email address and a telephone number to the Tribunal. Any such person who retains a representative must advise the other Parties and the Tribunal of the representative’s name, address, email address and the phone number.
If the hearing is to proceed electronically, any person who intends to participate in the hearing, including Parties, counsel and witnesses, is expected to review the Tribunal’s Video Hearing Guide, available on the Tribunal’s website (https://olt.gov.on.ca/guides/).
Requirements Before the Hearing
A Party who intends to call witnesses, whether by summons or not, shall provide to the Tribunal and the other Parties a list of the witnesses and the order in which they will be called. This list must be delivered on or before November 3, 2025. For expert witnesses, a party is to identify the area of expertise in which the witness is proposed to be qualified and a copy of their curriculum vitae.
Expert witnesses in the same discipline(s) shall have at least one meeting before the hearing to try to resolve or reduce the issues for the hearing. The experts shall prepare a list of any agreed facts and the remaining issues to be addressed at the hearing, and provide this list to all of the Parties and the Tribunal on or before December 8, 2025 if agreement is reached.
An expert witness shall prepare an expert witness statement which shall list any reports prepared by the expert, or any other reports or documents to be relied on at the hearing, the acknowledgement of expert’s duty and curriculum vitae. Copies of this must be provided as in Section 14. Instead of a witness statement, the expert may file his or her entire report if it contains the required information. If this is not done, the Tribunal may refuse to hear the expert’s testimony. For greater certainty, each expert witness statement must comply with the minimum content requirements specified in Rule 7 of the Tribunal’s Rules of Practice and Procedure. If the expert witness has prepared any report(s) that he/she intends to rely on at the hearing, and which did not form part of the submissions made to the City, such report(s) shall be provided to the other Parties at the same time as the delivery of expert witness statements, as in Section 14.
A witness or participant must provide to the Tribunal and the Parties a witness statement or participant statement, respectively, on or before December 8, 2025 or the witness or participant may not give oral evidence at the hearing. Participants are only permitted to provide written evidence to the Tribunal, unless otherwise permitted by the Tribunal.
Expert witnesses who are under summons but not paid to produce a report do not have to file an expert witness statement; but the Party calling them must file a brief outline of the expert’s evidence, as in Section 14.
On or before December 8, 2025 the Parties shall provide copies of their witness statements and expert witness statements (in accordance with section 11 herein) to the other Parties and to the Tribunal.
On or before December 19, 2025 the Parties may provide to all other Parties a written response to any written evidence.
On or before January 5, 2026 the Parties shall confirm with the Tribunal if all the reserved hearing dates are still required.
On or before January 5, 2026 the Parties shall provide copies of their visual evidence to the other Parties. The Tribunal and all Parties shall be notified if a model will be used, all Parties must have a reasonable opportunity to view it before the scheduled commencement of the hearing.
A person wishing to change written evidence, including witness statements, must make a written motion to the Tribunal. Such a motion shall be in accordance with the Tribunal’s Rule 10, which requires that the moving Party provide copies of the motion to all other Parties at least 15 days before the Tribunal hears the motion.
A Party who provides a witness’ written evidence to the other Parties must have the witness attend the hearing to give oral evidence, unless the Party notifies the Tribunal at least 7 days before the hearing that the written evidence is not part of their record.
On or before January 5, 2026 the Parties shall prepare and file a detailed Hearing Plan that identifies the following, at a minimum: the identified Parties participating in the Hearing Event, preliminary matters (if any to be addressed), the date a witness is intended to attend the Tribunal, the identified witness name/expertise, and the approximate time allotted for Examination in Chief, Cross Examination and any re-examination (if any) (the “Hearing Plan”). The Hearing Plan should be adhered to guide the Hearing Event to the best ability of all the Parties, and any and all witnesses shall be available on the identified date(s), unless otherwise directed by the Tribunal. The Tribunal may, at its discretion, change or alter the Hearing Plan throughout the Hearing Event.
The Parties undertake to make best their efforts to avoid duplicative evidence to the extent possible.
The Parties shall prepare a Joint Document Book on or before January 5, 2026 and one (1) hard copy if the Tribunal so wishes will be filed with the Tribunal as soon as practicable in advance of the Hearing. All Parties must be served with the Joint Document Book in an accessible electronic format in accordance with Section 4.
All filing of documents and materials shall be submitted electronically to the Tribunal, the Parties and Participants (if any). The Tribunal will be provided a hard copy of documents and materials in advance of the hearing event as soon as practicable. Electronic copies may be filed by email, an electronic file sharing service for documents that exceed 10MB in size, or as otherwise directed by the Tribunal. The delivery of documents by email shall be governed by the Rule 7. All documents to be filed with the Tribunal shall be organized, tabbed and digitally searchable and such materials will be filed in accordance with directions contained in the Tribunal’s Video Hearing Guide, dated July 2, 2020, or as may be amended. This section applies regardless if the hearing event is in-person or electronic.
No adjournments or delays will be granted before or during the hearing except for serious hardship or illness. The Tribunal’s Rule 17 applies to such requests.
The Tribunal may conduct mediation on consent of all Parties, or on consent of those Parties who wish to participate in mediation, or if the Tribunal sees fit.
The purpose of this Procedural Order and the meaning of the terms used in this Procedural Order are set out in Attachment 5.
This Member is [not] seized.
So orders the Tribunal.
BEFORE:
Name of Member ) Date:
TRIBUNAL REGISTRAR
ATTACHMENT 1
SUMMARY OF DATES
DATE
EVENT
November 3, 2025
Exchange of witness lists (names, disciplines and order to be called)
November 21, 2025
Last date to challenge identification of expert witness
December 8, 2025
Exchange of Witness Statements, Agreed Statement of Facts (if any), summoned witness outlines, Expert Reports and Participant Statements (if any)
December 19, 2025
Exchange of Reply Statements (if any)
January 5, 2026
Advise Tribunal if all hearing dates required
January 5, 2026
Exchange of visual evidence (if any)
January 5, 2026
Joint Document Book and Hearing Plan
January 14, 2026
Hearing commences
ATTACHMENT 2
LIST OF PARTIES AND PARTICIPANTS
PARTIES
Name
Contact Information
Jiao Sun
Han Mai Thusney Legal Services Professional Corp. 109 – 40 New Delhi Drive Markham, ON L3S 0B5 Tel: 877-413-1219 E-mail: legalservices@thusney.ca
Town of Newmarket
Barbara Montgomery, Senior Solicitor Legal Services Town of Newmarket 395 Mulock Drive Newmarket, ON L3R 9W3 Tel: 905-953-5300 ext 2438 E-mail: bmontgomery@newmarket.ca
ATTACHMENT 3
ISSUES LIST
NOTE: The identification of an issue on the Issues List does not constitute an acknowledgement by the Tribunal or any Party that the issue is either relevant or appropriate. The identification of an issue on this list by a Party indicates that Party’s intent to lead evidence or argue that the issue is relevant to the proceeding, for the purpose of fairly identifying to the other Parties the case they need to meet and shall not be construed as the Tribunal have jurisdiction over such matters in each circumstance. Accordingly, no Party shall advance an issue not identified on the Issues List without leave of the Tribunal.
- Does the property at 429 Botsford Street meet a minimum of two heritage criteria as required by section 29(1) of the Ontario Heritage Act, and by O. Reg. 9/06: Criteria for Determining Cultural Heritage Value or Interest, for designation as a property of cultural heritage value or interest?
ATTACHMENT 4
Order of Evidence
Appellant
Town of Newmarket
Appellant (in reply)
ATTACHMENT 5
Purpose of the Procedural Order and Meaning of Terms
Party is an individual or corporation permitted by the Tribunal to participate fully in the hearing by receiving copies of written evidence, presenting witnesses, cross-examining the witnesses of the other Parties, and making submissions on all of the evidence. If an unincorporated group wishes to become a Party, it must appoint one person to speak for it, and that person must accept the other responsibilities of a Party as set out in the Order. Parties do not have to be represented by a lawyer, and may have an agent speak for them. The agent must have written authorization from the Party.
NOTE that a person who wishes to become a Party before or at the hearing, and who did not request this at the Case Management Conference, must ask the Tribunal to permit this.
Participant is an individual, group or corporation, whether represented by a lawyer or not, who may attend only part of the proceeding but who makes a written statement to the Tribunal on all or some of the issues in the hearing in accordance with Rule 7.7 of the Tribunal’s Rules of Practice and Procedure.
NOTE that such persons will likely not receive notice of a mediation or conference calls on procedural issues. They also cannot ask for costs, or review of a decision as Parties can.
Written and Visual Evidence:
Written evidence includes all written material, reports, studies, documents, letters and witness statements which a Party intends to present as evidence at the hearing. These must have pages numbered consecutively throughout the entire document, even if there are tabs or dividers in the material.
Visual evidence includes photographs, maps, videos, models, and overlays which a Party intends to present as evidence at the hearing.
Witness Statements:
A witness statement is a short written outline of the person’s background, experience and interest in the matter; a list of the issues which the witness will discuss and the witness’ opinions on those issues; and a list of reports that the witness will rely on at the hearing.
An expert witness statement should include the expert’s (1) name and address,
(2) qualifications, (3) a list of the issues he or she will address, (4) the witness’ opinions on those issues and the complete reasons for the opinions and (5) a list of reports that the witness will rely on at the hearing.
A participant statement is a short written outline of the person’s or group’s background, experience and interest in the matter; a list of the issues which the participant will address and a short outline of the evidence on those issues; and a list of reports, relied upon, if any, which the participant will provide to the Tribunal for consideration of the written statement at the hearing.
Additional Information:
Summons: A Party must ask a Tribunal Member or the senior staff of the Tribunal to issue a summons. This request must be made before the time that the list of witnesses is provided to the Tribunal and the Parties (see Rule 13 on the summons procedure). If the Tribunal requests it, an affidavit must be provided indicating how the witness’ evidence is relevant to the hearing. If the Tribunal is not satisfied from the affidavit, it will require that a motion be heard to decide whether the witness should be summoned.
The order of examination of witnesses: is usually direct examination, cross- examination and re-examination in the following way:
direct examination by the Party presenting the witness;
direct examination by any Party of similar interest, in the manner determined by the Tribunal;
cross-examination by Parties of opposite interest;
re-examination by the Party presenting the witness; or
another order of examination mutually agreed among the Parties or directed by the Tribunal.