Pauline Centre Corporation v. Toronto (City), 2025 CanLII 88184

Ontario Land Tribunal

Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire

ISSUE DATE: August 29, 2025

CASE NO.: OLT-25-000072

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 34(11) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended

Applicant and Appellant: Pauline Centre Corporation

Subject: Application to amend the Zoning By-law – Refusal or neglect to make a decision

Existing Zoning: C1

Proposed Zoning: Site Specific (To be determined)

Description: To permit the redevelopment of the existing one-storey commercial building and replace it with a 8-storey mixed use building with 105 residential units

Reference Number: 16 268010 NNY 15 OZ

Property Address: 3019 Dufferin Street

Municipality/UT: Toronto/Toronto

OLT Case No.: OLT-25-000072

Legacy Case No.: PL171221

OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-25-000072

Legacy Lead Case No.: PL171221

OLT Case Name: Pauline Centre Corporation v. Toronto (City)

BEFORE:

ERIC S. CROWE MEMBER

Friday, the 29th day of August, 2025

THE TRIBUNAL ORDERS that further to the Decision issued on July 25, 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 March 16, 2026. The Tribunal has set aside ten (10) days 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

CASE NO(S).: OLT-25-000072

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 34(11) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended

Applicant and Appellant: Pauline Centre Corporation

Subject: Application to amend the Zoning By-law – Refusal or neglect to make a decision

Existing Zoning: C1 Proposed Zoning: Site Specific (to be determined) Description: To permit the development of the existing one-storey commercial building and replace it with an 8-storey mixed use building with 105 residential units

Reference Number: 16 268010 NNY 15 OZ

Property Address: 3019 Dufferin Street

Municipality/UT: Toronto/Toronto

OLT Case No.: OLT-25-000072

Legacy Case No.: PL171221 OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-25-000072 Legacy Lead Case No.: PL171221 OLT Case Name: Pauline Centre Corporation v. Toronto (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 Monday, March 16, 2026 at 10:00 a.m.

3. The length of the hearing is ten (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 are set out in Attachment 1. See Attachment 4 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 shall provide a mailing address, email address and a telephone number to the Tribunal as soon as possible. Any person who retains 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, the expert witness(es)' curriculum vitae and Acknowledgment of Expert Duty form(s), and the order in which the witnesses will be called. This material must be delivered on or before December 5, 2025. For expert witnesses, a party is to identify the area of expertise in which the witness is proposed to be qualified. Any challenges to the witness, including qualifications of a witness to give opinion evidence in the area of expertise proposed, shall be made by motion in accordance with the Tribunal’s Rules of Practice and Procedure and notice of same must be served on the parties on or before December 19, 2025.

10. If the applicant intends to seek approval of a revised proposal at the hearing, the applicant shall provide copies of the revised proposal, including all revised plans, drawings, proposed instruments, and updated supporting documents and reports to the other parties on or before November 7, 2025. The applicant acknowledges that any revisions to the proposal after that date without the consent of the parties may be grounds for a request to adjourn the hearing.

11. Expert witnesses in the same field shall have at least one meeting before the hearing to try to resolve or reduce 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 January 23, 2026, if agreement is reached.

12. 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. 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 they intend 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 parties at the same time as the delivery of witness statements, as in paragraph 12.

13. A witness (including any expert witness) or participant must provide to the Tribunal and the parties a witness statement (full disclosure including reports) or participant statement, respectively, on or before January 30, 2026, or the witness may not give oral evidence at the hearing. Participants are only permitted to provide written evidence to the Tribunal, except as permitted by the Ontario Land Tribunal Act, 2021 and the Tribunal's Rules of Practice and Procedure.

14. 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.

15. On or before February 12, 2026, the parties may provide to all other parties a written response to any written evidence.

16. On or before February 27, 2026, the parties shall confirm with the Tribunal if all the reserved hearing dates are still required.

17. On or before February 27, 2026, the parties shall provide copies of their visual evidence to all of the other parties. The Tribunal and all parties shall be notified if a model will be used, and all parties must have a reasonable opportunity to view it before the scheduled commencement of the hearing.

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. On or before March 6, 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.

21. The parties shall prepare a Joint Document Book on or before March 6, 2026, and which, if requested by the Tribunal, one (1) hard copy 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 paper or an accessible electronic format in accordance with paragraph 22.

22. All filing of documents and materials shall be electronic to the Tribunal, the parties and participants. The Tribunal will be provided a hard copy of documents and materials in advance of the hearing event as soon as practicable should it request same. 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, or as may be amended. Paragraph 22 applies regardless if the hearing event is in-person or electronic.

23. No adjournments or delays will be granted before or during the hearing except for serious hardship or illness or as permitted in paragraph 10. The Tribunal’s Rule 17 applies to such requests.

24. The Tribunal may conduct mediation on consent of all parties, on consent of those parties who wish to participate in mediation, or if the Tribunal sees fit.

25. The purpose of this Procedural Order and the meaning of the terms used in this Procedural Order are set out in Attachment 4.

This Member is not seized.

So orders the Tribunal.

BEFORE: Name of Member: Date:_

TRIBUNAL REGISTRAR

SUMMARY OF DATES

DATE	EVENT
November 7, 2025	Last date to provide copies of revised proposal, including all revised plans and drawings (if any)
December 5, 2025	Exchange of witness lists (names, disciplines and order to be called)
December 19, 2025	Last date to challenge identification of expert witness
January 23, 2026	Experts meeting prior to this date
January 23, 2026	Agreed Statement of Facts
January 30, 2026	Exchange of Witness Statements, summoned witness outlines, Expert Reports and Participant Statements
February 12, 2026	Exchange of Reply Witness Statements (if any)
February 27, 2026	Parties to Advise Tribunal if any hearing dates are to be released from the hearing calendar (if any)
February 27, 2026	Exchange of visual evidence (if any)
March 6, 2026	Final Hearing Plan filed with the Tribunal
March 6, 2026	Finalize Joint Document Book
March 16, 2026	Hearing commences

ATTACHMENT 1: PARTIES/PARTICIPANTS

Parties

1. Pauline Centre Corporation Michael Foderick/Jonathan Nehmetallah (416) 601-7783/(416) 601-8146 mfoderick@mccarthy.ca/jnehmetallah@mccarthy.ca

2. City of Toronto Kasia Czajkowski (416) 338-5725 kasia.czajkowski@toronto.ca

Participants

1. Rachel Nicholson
2. Marc Demone
3. Frank Kolinek
4. Dominico Maiolo
5. Frank Covelli
6. Sandra Sabadello
7. Maria Santoro

ATTACHMENT 2: ISSUES LIST

City of Toronto

Planning Act

1. Does the proposed Zoning By-law Amendment have appropriate regard for the matters of provincial interest as set out in Section 2 of the Planning Act, including subsections 2(f), (h), (p), (q) and (r)?

2. Would the approval by the Tribunal of the proposed Zoning By-law Amendment have regard for any information and material received by City Council, in accordance with Subsection 2.1(2) of the Planning Act?

Provincial Planning Statement (2024)

3. Is the proposed Zoning By-law Amendment, and the proposed development consistent with the Provincial Planning Statement (2024) as required by Section 3(5) of the Planning Act, including policies 2.2, 2.3.1, 3.1.1, 3.6.1(d), 3.9.1(a) and 6.1.5?

City of Toronto Official Plan

4. Does the proposed Zoning By-law Amendment conform with the policies of the City of Toronto Official Plan, including the policies related to:

a) Structuring Growth in the City (Section 2.2);

b) Healthy Neighbourhoods (Section 2.3.1);

c) Progressive Transportation Change (Section 2.4.3(b), 2.4.4, 2.4.7 and 2.4.22);

d) Public Realm (Section 3.1.1);

e) Built Form (Sections 3.1.3 and 3.1.4);

f) Housing (Section 3.2.1);

g) Mixed Use Areas (Section 4.5); and

h) Implementation (Sections 5.1.2, 5.3.1, 5.3.2, 5.6)?

City of Toronto Guidelines

5. Does the proposed development meet the intent and purpose of the Tall Building Design Guidelines?

6. Does the proposed development meet the intent and purpose of the Mid-Rise Building Design Guidelines?

7. Does the proposal meet the requirements of the Toronto Green Standard?

8. Does the proposed development meet the intent and purpose of the Growing Up Guidelines: Planning for Children in New Vertical Communities (2020)?

9. Does the proposal meet the intent and purpose of the Pet Friendly Design Guidelines for High Density Communities (2019)?

Site-Specific Issues

Built Form, Height, Massing and Density

10. Is a mid-rise building a more appropriate built form for this site?

11. Is the site organization and built form of the proposed development appropriate, and more specifically:

i. Are the proposed building height, tower floorplate size, streetwalls, and massing appropriate?

ii. Does the proposed building establish appropriate relationships at grade, including setbacks, and provide an appropriate pedestrian realm, with contributions to streetscaping, public spaces, and private open spaces?

iii. Are the proposal’s separation distances appropriate, and does the proposed development avoid precluding the orderly development of adjacent properties on the block?

iv. Does the proposal provide an appropriate transition in scale to adjacent nearby land uses, including Neighbourhood designated properties, green spaces, and public realm elements?

v. Are the shadow impacts from the proposed development acceptable?

vi. Are the wind impacts from the proposed development acceptable?

vii. Are the proposed indoor and outdoor amenity space provisions acceptable?

Transportation

12. Is the proposed automobile and bicycle parking supply appropriate?

13. Is the proposed access, turning templates, parking space dimensions and location of the pick-up and drop- off and loading appropriate?

14. Does the proposed development appropriately anticipate future cycle track options along Dufferin Street in terms of setbacks and impact on street tree locations?

Servicing and Infrastructure

15. Is there sufficient infrastructure capacity to accommodate the proposed development (including water, sanitary and stormwater), and should a holding (H) symbol be enacted in the final form of the zoning by-law?

Public Interest and Good Planning

16. Does the proposed Zoning By-law Amendment represent good planning and good urban design, and is it in the public interest?

Conditions

17. If the proposed development is approved in whole or in part, should the Tribunal's Order be withheld until the following conditions are satisfied, and the Tribunal has received confirmation from the City Solicitor that:

a. The form and content of the Zoning By-law Amendment is satisfactory to the Executive Director, Development Review Division, the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning Division, and the City Solicitor;

b. The Owner has submitted a revised Functional Servicing Report, Stormwater Management Report, and Hydrogeological Review, including sanitary and service connection locations and the Foundation Drainage Report or addendums ("Engineering Reports"), to the satisfaction of the Chief Engineer and Executive Director, Engineering and Construction Services, in consultation with the General Manager, Toronto Water;

c. The Owner has submitted a Sanitary or Combined Sewer Tributary Catchment Area Plan, including population values and trade flow values utilized in the model, to the satisfaction of the Chief Engineer and Executive Director, Engineering and Construction Services, in consultation with the General Manager, Toronto Water;

d. The Owner has secured the design and provision of financial securities for any upgrades or required improvements to the existing municipal infrastructure identified in the accepted Engineering Reports, to support the development, all to the satisfaction of the Chief Engineer and Executive Director, Engineering and Construction Services and the General Manager, Toronto Water, should it be determined that improvements or upgrades are required to support the development, according to the accepted Engineering Reports, accepted by the Chief Engineer and Executive Director, Engineering and Construction Services and the General Manager, Toronto Water;

e. Should it be determined that upgrades are required to the infrastructure to support the development according to the accepted Functional Servicing Report, City Council direct the City Solicitor and appropriate City staff to request that a Holding provision (H) be included in the final form of the site specific Zoning By-law Amendment, not to be lifted until such time as the owner has made satisfactory arrangements, including entering into appropriate agreement(s) with the City, for the design and construction of any improvements to the municipal infrastructure and the provision of financial securities to the satisfaction of the Chief Engineer and Executive Director, Engineering and Construction Services and General Manager, Transportation Services;

f. The Owner has submitted an updated Pedestrian Level Wind Tunnel Study, to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning;

g. The Owner has submitted an updated complete Toronto Green Standards Checklist and Statistics Template, to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning;

h. The Owner has addressed all outstanding issues raised by Urban Forestry, Tree Protection and Plan Review as they relate to the Zoning By-law Amendment application, to the satisfaction of the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation; and

i. The Owner has submitted a revised functional design plan, including pavement marking and signage plans to the satisfaction of the General Manager, Transportation Services and the Chief Engineer and Executive Director, Engineering and Construction Services, and that such matters arising from such study, be secured if required.

ATTACHMENT 3: ORDER OF EVIDENCE

1. Pauline Centre Corporation
2. City of Toronto
3. Pauline Centre Corporation

ATTACHMENT 4: 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.