Ontario Land Tribunal

Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire

ISSUE DATE:

November 19, 2025

CASE NO(S).:

OLT-25-000022

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 42(4.9) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P. 13, as amended

Appellant:

Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD)

Appellant:

Tribute (Brookdale) Limited

Subject:

Parkland Dedication By-law

Description:

To permit the City to continue to secure land for park or other public recreational purposes, or collect payments in lieu of land

Reference Number:

By-law 8142/24

Property Address:

City wide

Municipality/UT:

Pickering/Durham

OLT Case No:

OLT-25-000022

OLT Lead Case No.:

OLT-25-000022

OLT Case Name:

Building Industry and Land Development Association et. al. v. Pickering (City)

Heard:

October 20, 2025 by Video Hearing

APPEARANCES:

Parties

Counsel

Building Industry and Land Development Association (“BILD”)

Ira Kagan, Sarah Kagan

Tribute (Brookdale) Limited (“Tribute”)

Adrianna Pilkington, Signe Leisk (in absentia)

City of Pickering (“City”)

J. Mark Joblin, Alexandra Whyte

MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY Gregory J. Ingram ON October 20, 2025 AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

1This is the first Case Management Conference (“CMC”) with respect to BILD and Tribute (together the “Appellants”) appeals against the City’s passing of a new Parkland Dedication By-law No. 8142/24 (“ZBL”). The Notice of Passing by the City is dated December 6, 2024, and the appeals were then launched to the Tribunal under subsection 42(4.9) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.P.13, as amended (“Act”).

2Briefly summarized, the BILD and Tribute appeals are based on concerns related to the restrictions within the ZBL with respect to what constitutes eligible land to be designated as parkland.

CMC

3At the onset of this CMC, the Parties provided an update to the Tribunal, submitted a draft Procedural Order (“PO”), and proceeded to request that the Tribunal set dates for a 10-day hearing. It is anticipated that each Party may call two or three witnesses.

4The Tribunal is satisfied that the Affidavit of Service provides satisfactory evidence, that proper notice of the CMC was provided, and no further notice is required. The Affidavit of Service was marked as Exhibit 1.

5The Parties, in general, support participating in Tribunal-led mediation but indicated that it isn’t required at this time as they expect to be able to scope the issues without assistance. Counsel for BILD submitted that a Tribunal-led mediation could be very useful regarding these appeals and was particularly open to that option in the future.

NEXT STEPS

6The Tribunal set a 10-day Merit Hearing to proceed by video on Monday, July 6, 2026, at 10 a.m. The Parties were directed to submit a final draft PO to the Case Co-ordinator by Monday, November 10, 2025.

7The Tribunal received the draft PO and has reviewed and approved it. It is attached as Schedule 1 and will govern the proceedings leading up to and including the hearing.

8Parties 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/692665589

Access code: 692-665-589

9Parties 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 GoTo Meeting or a web application is available: https://app.gotomeeting.com/home.html

10Persons who experience technical difficulties accessing the GoTo Meeting application or who only wish to listen to the event can connect to it by calling in to an audio-only telephone line: +1 (647) 497-9373 or (Toll-Free) 1-888-299-1889. The access code is: 692-665-589.

11Individuals 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 event to ensure that they are properly connected at the correct time. Questions prior to the event may be directed to the Tribunal’s Case Coordinator.

12The Member is not seized, and no further notice is required.

ORDER

13THE TRIBUNAL ORDERS THAT:

1. The dates and particulars of the Merit Hearing are set out above, beginning in paragraph [6].

2. The Procedural Order, included as Schedule 1, is in full force and effect as of the issuance of this decision.

“Gregory J. Ingram”

GREGORY J. INGRAM

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 1

ISSUE DATE: CASE NO(S).: OLT-25-000022

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 42(4.9) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P. 13, as amended:

Appellant: Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD)

Appellant: Tribute (Brookdale) Limited

Subject: Parkland Dedication By-law

Description: To permit the City to continue to secure land for park or other public recreational purposes, or collect payments in lieu of land

Reference Number: By-law 8142/24

Property Address: City wide

Municipality/UT: Pickering/Durham

OLT Case No.: OLT-25-000022

OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-25-000022

OLT Case Name: Building Industry and Land Development Association et al v. Pickering (City)

1. 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

2. The video hearing will begin on July 6, 2026, at 10 a.m. The link to the video hearing is as follows:

GoTo Meeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/692665589

Access Code: 692-665-589

3. The parties’ initial estimation for the length of the hearing is 10 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.

4. The parties and participants identified at the case management conference are set out in Attachment 1 (see below for the meaning of these terms).

5. The issues are set out in the Issues List attached as Attachment 2. There will be no changes to this list unless the Tribunal permits, and a party who asks for changes may have costs awarded against it.

6. The order of evidence shall be as set out in Attachment 3 to this Order. 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.

7. Any person intending to participate in the hearing should provide a mailing address, email address and a telephone number to the Tribunal as soon as possible – ideally before the case management conference. Any person who will be retaining a representative should advise the other parties and the Tribunal of the representative’s name, address, email address and the phone number as soon as possible.

8. 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.

Requirements Before the Hearing

9. 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 April 1, 2026 and in accordance with paragraph 22 below. A party who intends to call an expert witness must include a copy of the witness’ Curriculum Vitae and the area of expertise in which the witness is prepared to be qualified.

10. Expert witnesses in the same field shall have a meeting on or before April 27, 2026 and use best efforts to try to resolve or reduce the issues for the hearing. Following the experts’ meeting the parties must prepare and file a Statement of Agreed Facts and Issues with the OLT case co-ordinator on or before May 1, 2026.

11. 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. Copies of this must be provided as in paragraph 13 below. 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.

12. 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 paragraph 13 below. A party who intends to call a witness who is not an expert must file a brief outline of the witness’ evidence, as in paragraph 13 below.

13. On or before May 8, 2026, the parties shall provide copies of their [witness and] expert witness statements to the other parties and to the OLT case co-ordinator and in accordance with paragraph 22 below.

14. On or before May 8, 2025, a participant shall provide copies of their written participant statement to the other parties in accordance with paragraph 22 below. A participant cannot present oral submissions at the hearing on the content of their written statement, unless ordered by the Tribunal.

15. On or before May 29, 2026 the parties shall confirm with the Tribunal if all the reserved hearing dates are still required.

16. On or before June 12, 2026, the parties shall provide copies of their visual evidence to all of the other parties in accordance with paragraph 22 below. If a model will be used, all parties must have a reasonable opportunity to view it before the hearing.

17. Parties may provide to all other parties and the OLT case co-ordinator a written response to any written evidence on or before June 5, 2026 and in accordance with paragraph 22 below.

18. The parties shall cooperate to prepare a joint document book which shall be shared with the OLT case co-ordinator on or before June 19, 2026.

19. A person wishing to change written evidence, including witness statements, must make a written motion to the Tribunal. See Rule 10 of the Tribunal’s Rules with respect to Motions, which requires that the moving party provide copies of the motion to all other parties 15 days before the Tribunal hears the motion.

20. A party who provides written evidence of a witness 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.

21. The parties shall prepare and file a preliminary hearing plan with the Tribunal on or before June 29, 2026 with a proposed schedule for the hearing that identifies, as a minimum, the parties participating in the hearing, the preliminary matters (if any to be addressed), the anticipated order of evidence, the date each witness is expected to attend, the anticipated length of time for evidence to be presented by each witness in chief, cross-examination and re-examination (if any) and the expected length of time for final submissions. The parties are expected to ensure that the hearing proceeds in an efficient manner and in accordance with the hearing plan. The Tribunal may, at its discretion, change or alter the hearing plan at any time in the course of the hearing.

22. All filings shall be submitted electronically unless otherwise directed. 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.

23. 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.

This Member is [not] seized.

So orders the Tribunal.

Meaning of terms used in the Procedural Order:

A 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. An unincorporated group cannot be a party and 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 authorisation 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 (CMC), must ask the Tribunal to permit this.

A participant is an individual or corporation, whether represented by a lawyer or not, who may make a written submission to the Tribunal. A participant cannot make an oral submission to the Tribunal or present oral evidence (testify in-person) at the hearing (only a party may do so). Section 17 of the Ontario Land Tribunal Act states that a person who is not a party to a proceeding may only make a submission to the Tribunal in writing. The Tribunal may direct a participant to attend a hearing to answer questions from the Tribunal on the content of their written submission, should that be found necessary by the Tribunal. A participant may also be asked questions by the parties should the Tribunal direct a participant to attend a hearing to answer questions on the content of their written submission.

A participant must be identified and be accorded participant status by the Tribunal at the CMC. A participant will not receive notice of conference calls on procedural issues that may be scheduled prior to the hearing, nor receive notice of mediation. A participant cannot ask for costs, or review of a decision, as a participant does not have the rights of a party to make such requests of the Tribunal.

Written evidence includes all written material, reports, studies, documents, letters and witness statements which a party or participant 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 or participant intends to present as evidence at the hearing.

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 he or she will discuss ; and a list of reports or materials that the witness will rely on at the hearing.

An expert witness statement should include his or her (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 supporting their opinions and conclusions and (5) a list of reports or materials that the witness will rely on at the hearing. An expert witness statement must be accompanied by an acknowledgement of expert’s duty.

A participant statement is a short written outline of the person’s or group’s background, experience and interest in the matter; a statement of the participant’s position on the appeal; a list of the issues which the participant wishes to address and the submissions of the participant on those issues; and a list of reports or materials, if any, which the participant wishes to refer to in their statement.

Additional Information

A summons may compel the appearance of a person before the Tribunal who has not agreed to appear as a witness. A party must ask a Tribunal Member or the senior staff of the Tribunal to issue a summons through a request. (See Rule 13 on the summons procedure.) The request should indicate how the witness’ evidence is relevant to the hearing. If the Tribunal is not satisfied from the information provided in the request that the evidence is relevant, necessary or admissible, the party requesting the summons may provide a further request with more detail or bring a motion in accordance with the Rules.

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.

ATTACHMENT 1

Parties

1. City of Pickering

J. Mark Joblin & Alexandra Whyte Loopstra Nixon LLP 100 New Park Place, Suite 303 Vaughan, ON L4K 0H9

Email: mjoblin@LN.law ; awhyte@LN.law Tel: 416-748-4756 ; 416-748-4777

2. Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD)

Ira Kagan & Sarah Kagan

Kagan Shastri DeMelo Winer Park LLP

188 Avenue Road

Toronto, ON M5R 2J1

Email: ikagan@ksllp.ca ; skagan@ksllp.ca

Tel: 437-781-9549 ; 437-781-9551

3. Tribute (Brookdale) Limited

Signe Leisk & Adrianna Pilkington

Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP

Bay Adelaide Centre – North Tower

40 Temperance Street, Suite 3200

Toronto, ON M5H 0B4

Email: sleisk@cassels.com ; apilkington@cassels.com

Tel: 416-869-5411 ; 416-860-6453

Participants

None

ATTACHMENT 2

Hearing Issues

The identification of an issue on this list does not mean that all parties agree that the issue, or the manner in which it is expressed, is appropriate for or relevant to the proper determination of the appeals. The extent of the appropriateness and/or relevance of the issue may be a matter of evidence and/or argument at the hearing.

BILD and Tribute Common Issues

1. Does City of Pickering By-law 8142/24 (“By-law”) have sufficient regard for matters of provincial interest in section 2 of the Planning Act, including s. 2(a), (e), (h), (i), (j), (p), (q), and (r)?
2. Is the By-law consistent with the Provincial Planning Statement, 2024, including policies 2.1.6a, 2.2.1c, 2.3.1.2, 2.3.1.3, 2.9.1, 3.1, 3.9.1, and 6.2.1?
3. Has the City properly accounted for all existing and planned park and public recreational space in its Parks Plan?
4. Has the City appropriately examined and estimated the need for parkland in the City?
5. If the answer to Issues 3 or 4 is “no”, then what reduction is appropriate to the maximum alternative rate in the By-law?
6. Should the By-law be amended such that when the alternative rate is applied to residential development, that it only applies to the net new residential units?
7. Should section 6 of the By-law be amended such that additions to non-residential buildings do not attract a parkland dedication requirement since the rate is based on the area of the land and not the size of the building?
8. Should the By-law be amended to recognize 100% parkland credit for lands which, while not developable for residential or non-residential uses, nevertheless provide a park or public recreational purpose, be they active or passive, including lands that would otherwise support public facilities such as schools?

Tribute Specific Issues

1. Is the City’s alternative rate appropriate? Does the alternative rate disincentivize high density residential development, innovative approaches to the public realm and neighbourhood integration and connectivity?
2. Does the alternative rate undermine achievement of ecological, environmental, and sustainability policies which support low impact development (LID) and protection of ecological systems, amongst other matters?
3. Does the By-law undermine achievement of increased local parks and public recreational facilities and the optimal development of land, including with respect to phasing?
4. Does the By-law undermine good planning, including the achievement of complete communities and is it in the public interest?