SIREG Holdings (North) Inc. v. North Bay (City), 2025 CanLII 74681

Ontario Land Tribunal

Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 51(39) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended

Applicant and Appellant: SIREG Holdings (North) Inc.

Subject: Proposed Plan of Subdivision – Appeal of Refusal

Description: To permit the conversion of 60 existing townhouses to a condominium tenure.

Reference Number: 48CDM-22102

Property Address: 350 Oakwood Avenue

Municipality: North Bay

OLT Case No.: OLT-24-001022

OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-24-001022

OLT Case Name: SIREG Holdings (North) Inc. v. North Bay (City)

BEFORE:

F. LAVOIE MEMBER

Tuesday, the 22nd day of July, 2025

THE TRIBUNAL ORDERS that further to the Decision issued on May 06, 2025, the Procedural Order, as agreed to between the Parties and attached hereto as Schedule “A”, shall be in force and effect for the purpose of governing the required procedures leading up to and including the hearing, which is scheduled to commence on September 02, 2025. The Tribunal has set aside 3 day(s) for the hearing.

“Matthew D.J. Bryan”

MATTHEW D.J. BRYAN REGISTRAR

Ontario Land Tribunal Website: 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”

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

1. The video hearing will begin on September 2, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. by videoconference, at the following: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/979388733; Access Code: 979388733.

2. The parties’ initial estimation for the length of the hearing is three (3) 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.

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

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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

8. 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 July 9, 2025 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.

9. Expert witnesses in the same field shall have a meeting on or before July 14, 2025 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 July 18, 2025.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. On or before July 18, 2025, 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.

13. On or before July 18, 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.

14. On or before July 29, 2025 the parties shall confirm with the Tribunal if all the reserved hearing dates are still required.

15. On or before July 18, 2025, 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.

16. Parties may provide to all other parties and the OLT case co-ordinator a written response to any written evidence within ten (10) days after the evidence is received and in accordance with paragraph 22 below.

17. The parties shall cooperate to prepare a joint document book which shall be shared with the OLT case co-ordinator on or before August 12, 2025.

18. 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.

19. 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.

20. All filings shall be submitted electronically and in hard copy. 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.

21. 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.

BEFORE:

Name of Member:

Date:

TRIBUNAL REGISTRAR

ATTACHMENT 1

LIST OF PARTIES AND PARTICIPANTS

1. SIREG Holdings (North) Inc.

   Di Vona Law Professional Corporation 77 Bloor Street West, Suite 600 Toronto, ON M5S 1M2 Matthew Di Vona matthew@divonalaw.com 416-562-9729

2. City of North Bay

   Kagan Shastri DeMelo Winder Park LLP 188 Avenue Road Toronto, ON M5R 2J1 Paul M. DeMelo pdemelo@ksllp.com 437-780-3435

ATTACHMENT 2

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, within the jurisdiction of, or otherwise appropriate, to adjudicate. The identification of an issues on this list by a party indicates that party’s intent to lead evidence or argue that the issues is relevant to the proceeding, for the purpose of fairly identifying to the other parties the case they need to meet. Accordingly, no party shall advance an issue not identified on the Issues List without leave of the Tribunal.

SIREG Holdings (North) Inc.

Condominium Act

1. Does the application comply with the Condominium Act?

Planning Act

2. Does the application have regard to the matters of provincial interest set out at section 2 of the Planning Act?

3. Does the application have regard to the criteria at subsection 51(24) of the Planning Act?

Provincial Planning Statement, 2024

4. Is the application consistent with the Provincial Planning Statement, 2024; specifically, subsection 2.1.6(a), which speaks of accommodating an appropriate range and mix of land uses and housing options in order to create complete communities?

Growth Plan for Northern Ontario, 2011

5. Does the application conform with the Growth Plan for Northern Ontario; specifically, section 4 relating to land use planning matters?

City of North Bay Official Plan

7. Does the application conform with the General Housing policies of the City of North Bay Official Plan; specifically, section 2.1.11.2?

8. Does the application conform with the Condominium Conversion policies of the City of North Bay Official Plan; specifically, sections 2.1.13, 2.1.13.1, 2.1.13.2, 2.1.13.3 and 2.1.13.4?

9. Does the application contribute to the overall achievement of the goals and objectives of the City of North Bay Official Plan?

10. Does the application conform with the City of North Bay Official Plan?

City of North Bay Zoning By-law 2015-30

11. Does the application comply with City of North Zoning By-law No. 2015-30?

General

12. Does the application represent good land use planning that is in the public interest?

City of North Bay

1. Is the proposed development consistent with Policy 2.2.1(b)(i) of the 2024 PPS?

2. Does the proposal have appropriate regard for matters of Provincial interest as set out in Section 2 of the Planning Act, and in particular subsections (j) and (n)?

3. Does the proposal have regard to the matters identified in Section 51(24) of the Planning Act?

4. Does the proposal conform with the policies of the City of North Bay Official Plan, and in particular Policy 2.1.13 which deals with condominium conversions?

5. Does the proposal account for the protection of existing rental opportunities within the City of North Bay and how are such rental opportunities proposed to be continued as part of the proposed development?

6. If the proposal is to be approved, what are the appropriate conditions of approval, including but not limited, to the means by which the existing rental tenancies are to be protected?

7. Does the proposal represent good plan for the subject lands?

ATTACHMENT 3

ORDER OF EVIDENCE

1. SIREG Holdings (North) Inc.

2. City of North Bay

3. SIREG Holdings (North) Inc., Reply

ATTACHMENT 4

KEY DATES

Witness List July 9, 2025

Expert’s Meeting July 14, 2025

Agreed Statement of Facts July 18, 2025

Expert Witness Statement / Outline of Evidence / Participant Statement July 18, 2025

Confirmation re Hearing Dates July 29, 2025

Visual Evidence July 18, 2025

Reply Witness Statements July 28, 2025

Joint Document Book August 12, 2025

Hearing Commences September 2, 2025

Attachment to Sample Procedural Order

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.