Friday Harbour Resort Holdings Inc. v. Innisfil (Town), 2026 CanLII 12536

Ontario Land Tribunal

Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire

ISSUE DATE: February 12, 2026

CASE NO.: OLT-25-000656

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 22 (7) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.P.13, as amended

Applicant and Appellant: Friday Harbour Resort Holdings Inc.

Subject: Application to amend the Official Plan – Failure to adopt the requested amendment

Description: To permit a 15-storey resort hotel building connected to a 1-storey conference facility, and resort residential buildings ranging from 4 to 14 storeys increasing the number of hotel and resort residential units combined in the Friday Harbour Resort from 3000 to 3700 units

Reference Number: D09-2024-001

Property Address: 3999 Friday Drive

Municipality/UT: Town of Innisfil / County of Simcoe

OLT Case No.: OLT-25-000656

OLT Lease Case No.: OLT-25-000656

OLT-Case Name: Friday Harbour Resort Holdings Inc. v. Innisfil (Town)

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

Applicant and Appellant: Friday Harbour Resort Holdings Inc.

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

Description: To permit a 15-storey resort hotel building connected to a 1-storey conference facility, and resort residential buildings ranging from 4 to 14 storeys increasing the number of hotel and resort residential units combined in the Friday Harbour Resort from 3000 to 3700 units

Reference Number: D14-2024-002

Property Address: 3999 Friday Drive

Municipality/UT: Town of Innisfil / County of Simcoe

OLT Case No.: OLT-25-000657

OLT Lease Case No.: OLT-25-000656

BEFORE:

CARMINE TUCCI

Thursday, the 4^th

MEMBER

day of December, 2025

UPON APPEAL having brought by Friday Harbour Resort Holdings Inc. pursuant to Sections 22(7) and 34(11) on the basis of a non-decision regarding the application to permit a 15-storey resort hotel building connected to a 1-storey conference facility, and resort residential buildings ranging from 4 to 14 storeys;

AND THE TRIBUNAL marked as Exhibit 1 the Affidavit of Service attesting to proper Notice having been given for this Case Management Conference (“CMC”) proceeded to conduct a CMC on Thursday, December 4, 2025 held by videoconference;

AND THE TRIBUNAL, on consent of the Parties, granted;

Party status to;

1. County of Simcoe

2. Ana Goncalves,

Ann Hunt,

Anna D’Alessandro,

Brent Hughes,

Christine Crowley,

Dave Rae,

Dirk and Donna Cockburn,

Jackie Green,

Janice Sanders,

Anne Marie Gelinas and Mike Jessop,

Tony Muscat

3. Darren Vella

Participant status to:

1. Arleen Huggins

2. Andre Pearson

3. Jeremy Brasseur

4. Karen Brown, on behalf of Innisfil Civic Planning Advocate Group

5. Tyler Fergusson

6. Amanda Villars 7. Ben Onucki

7. Lina Tari

8. Richard Fenton

9. Steven Solomon

10. Jacqueline Mintz

11. Gianfranca and Sandy Stuart

12. Shirley Paglia

13. Robert Dudley

14. Friday Harbour Homeowners’ Association Inc.

AND THE TRIBUNAL confirmed the Parties’ awareness of Tribunal-led mediation;

AND THE TRIBUNAL at the CMC having scheduled a hearing to commence on Wednesday, May 6, 2026 at 10 a.m. through Wednesday, May 27, 2026. by videoconference;

Parties and Participants 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://meet.goto.com/680885805

Access code: 680-885-805

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

Persons 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: 680-885-805.

Individuals 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.

As of March 30, 2026, all hearing events are governed by the Tribunal’s Artificial Intelligence Practice Direction. This Practice Direction requires a party, participant, or witness to include a declaration within each submitted document if generative AI was used to create or generate content.

THE TRIBUNAL ORDERS THAT:

1. The Procedural Order appended as Attachment 2 shall govern the conduct of this proceeding;

2. This Member remains available to assist with the case management of this proceeding, subject to the Tribunal’s calendar.

“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.

Attachment 1

CMC Attendance List

Party Name

Counsel/Representative*

Friday Harbour Resort Holdings Inc.

Mark Flowers / Alexia Ivo

Town of Innisfil

J. Mark Joblin / Alexandra Whyte

County of Simcoe

Alex Freeman-Carter

Ana Goncalves, Ann Hunt, Anna D’Alessandro, Brent Hughes, Christine Crowley, Dave Rae, Dirk and Donna Cockburn, Jackie Green, Janice Sanders, Anne Marie Gelinas and Mike Jessop, and Tony Muscat

Ira Kagan

Darren Vella

Darren Vella*

ATTACHMENT 2

Ontario Land Tribunal

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 22(7) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended.

Applicant and Appellant:

Friday Harbour Resort Holdings Inc.

Subject:

Description:

Application to amend the Official Plan – Failure to adopt the requested amendment

To permit a 15-storey resort hotel building connected to a 1-storey conference facility, and resort residential buildings ranging from 4 to 14 storeys increasing the number of hotel and resort residential units combined in the Friday Harbour Resort from 3000 to 3700 units

Reference Number:

D09-2024-001

Property Address:

3999 Friday Drive

Municipality/UT:

Town of Innisfil / County of Simcoe

OLT Case No.:

OLT-25-000656

OLT Lead Case No.:

OLT-25-000656

OLT Case Name:

Friday Harbour Resort Holdings Inc. v. Innisfil (Town)

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

Applicant and Appellant:

Friday Harbour Resort Holdings Inc.

Subject:

Description:

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

To permit a 15-storey resort hotel building connected to a 1-storey conference facility, and resort residential buildings ranging from 4 to 14 storeys increasing the number of hotel and resort residential units combined in the Friday Harbour Resort from 3000 to 3700 units

Reference Number:

D09-2024-002

Property Address:

3999 Friday Drive

Municipality/UT:

Town of Innisfil / County of Simcoe

OLT Case No.:

OLT-25-000657

OLT Lead Case No.:

OLT-25-000656

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

1. The video hearing will begin on Wednesday, May 6, 2026 at 10:00 A.M. No further notice shall be required.

2. The length of the hearing will be approximately 15 days, concluding on Wednesday, May 27, 2026. 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 (see Attachment “4” for the meaning of these terms) identified at the Case Management Conference are listed in Attachment “1” to this Order.

4. The issues for the hearing are set out in the Issues List attached as Attachment “2” to this Order. 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, except if the Issues List is modified on consent of the parties, through mediation or pursuant to a settlement between the parties.

5. The order of evidence for the hearing is listed 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. 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 are intended to be called. This list must be delivered on or before Tuesday, January 6, 2026, and in accordance with paragraph 21 below. A party who intends to call an expert witness must include a copy of the witness’ Curriculum Vitae and the area(s) of expertise in which the witness is proposed to be qualified.

9. Expert witnesses in the same field shall have a meeting on or before Friday, February 6, 2026, to try to resolve or reduce the issues for the hearing. Following the experts’ meeting, a Statement of Agreed Facts and Issues shall be filed with the OLT case coordinator on or before Friday, February 20, 2026.

10. An expert witness shall prepare an expert witness statement, which shall list any reports prepared by the expert, and any other reports or documents to be relied on at the hearing. Copies of this must be provided as in paragraph 12. 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 anticipated evidence as in paragraph 12. 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 12 below.

12. On or before Friday, March 6, 2026, the parties shall provide copies of their witness and expert witness statements to the other parties and to the OLT case coordinator in accordance with paragraph 21 below.

13. On or before Friday, March 6, 2026, a participant shall provide copies of their written participant statement to the other parties and the OLT case coordinator in accordance with paragraph 21 below. A participant cannot present oral submissions at the hearing on the content of their written statement, unless ordered by the Tribunal.

14. Parties may provide to all other parties and the OLT case coordinator a written response to any written evidence on or before Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in accordance with paragraph 21 below.

15. On or before Wednesday, April 1, 2026, the parties shall confirm with the Tribunal if all the reserved hearing dates are still required.

16. On or before Wednesday, April 15, 2026, the parties shall provide copies of their visual evidence to all of the other parties and the OLT case coordinator in accordance with paragraph 21 below. If a model will be used, all parties must have a reasonable opportunity to view it before the hearing.

17. The parties shall cooperate to prepare a joint document book which shall be shared with the OLT case coordinator on or before Wednesday, April 22, 2026.

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 a witness’ written evidence or expert witness statement 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 prior to the hearing that the written evidence is not part of their record.

20. The parties shall prepare and file a preliminary hearing plan with the Tribunal on or before Wednesday, April 29, 2026 with a proposed schedule for the hearing that identifies, at 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.

21. All filings shall be electronic and, if requested by the Tribunal, also 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 Rule 7.

22. 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.

SUMMARY OF DATES

DATE

EVENT

January 6, 2026

Parties to exchange lists of witnesses (names, disciplines, CVs and intended order to be called)

February 6, 2026

Meetings of Expert Witnesses

February 20, 2026

Parties to file Statements of Agreed Facts and Issues

March 6, 2026

Exchange of Witness Statements, summonsed witness outlines, Expert Reports and Participant Statements

April 1, 2026

Exchange of Reply Witness Statements

April 1, 2026

Parties to advise OLT if all scheduled hearing days are required

April 15, 2026

Exchange of visual evidence

April 22, 2026

Joint Document Book to be filed

April 29, 2026

Parties to file hearing plan

May 6, 2026

Hearing commences

Attachment 1

LIST OF PARTIES / PARTICIPANTS

Parties

1. Friday Harbour Resort Holdings Inc.

Mark Flowers / Alexia Ivo

Davies Howe LLP The Tenth Floor

425 Adelaide Street West

Toronto, ON M5V 3C1

Email: markf@davieshowe.com / alexia@davieshowe.com

Tel: 416-263-4513 / 416-263-4510

2. Town of Innisfil

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

Kameron Faridani

Assistant Town Solicitor Town of Innisfil 2101 Innisfil Beach Road, Innisfil, ON L9S 1A1

Email: kfaridani@innisfil.ca

Tel: 705-436-3710

3. County of Simcoe

Alex Freeman-Carter, Associate Legal Counsel County of Simcoe, Legal Services Department 1110 Highway 26 Midhurst, ON L9X 1N6

Email: alex.freeman-carter@simcoe.ca

Tel: 705-726-9300 Ext. 1657

4. Ana Goncalves, Ann Hunt, Anna D’Alessandro, Brent Hughes, Christine Crowley, Dave Rae, Dirk and Donna Cockburn, Jackie Green, Janice Sanders, Anne Marie Gelinas and Mike Jessop, and Tony Muscat

Ira T. Kagan Kagan Shastri DeMelo Winer Park LLP 188 Avenue Road Toronto, ON M5R 2J1 Email: ikagan@ksllp.ca

Tel: 437-781-9549

5. Darren Vella

Darren Vella, President & Director of Planning

Innovative Planning Solutions

9-647 Welham Road

Barrie, ON L4N 0B7

Email: dvella@ipsconsultinginc.com

Tel: 705-812-3281 Ext.22

Participants

1. Arleen Huggins Email: ahuggins@kmlaw.ca

2. Andrea Pearson Email: andrealpearson@gmail.com

3. Jeremy Brasseur Email: jbrasseur@middlefield.com

4. Karen Brown, on behalf of Innisfil Civic Planning Advocate Group Email: hello@renostudios.com

5. Tyler Fergusson Email: tyler_fergusson@hotmail.com

6. Amanda Villars Email: amanda.villars@hotmail.com

7. Ben Onucki Email: JBOnucki@gmail.com

8. Lina Tari Email: lptari@rogers.com

9. Richard Fenton Email: richdd@rogers.com

10. Steven Solomon

Email: solfam@rogers.com

11. Jacqueline Mintz

Email: Jackie.tlc@rogers.com

12. Gianfranca and Sandy Stuart

Email: stuartfrankie@gmail.com

13. Shirley Paglia

Email: shirlylk49@gmai.com

14. Robert Dudley

Email: bob.dudley@rogers.com

15. Friday Harbour Homeowners’ Association Inc.

Email: FHHOAssoc@gmail.com

Attachment 2

ISSUES LIST

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.

Issues List of Town of Innisfil

Planning Act:

1. Does the proposed development have appropriate regard for the matters of provincial interest described in Subsections 2(a), (h), (l), (p), and (r) of the Planning Act?

Provincial Planning Statement, 2024 (PPS 2024):

1. Is the proposed development consistent with the PPS 2024, including policies 2.8.1.1, 4.1.1, 4.1.2, 4.1.3, 4.1.5, 4.1.8?

Lake Simcoe Protection Plan:

1. Does the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan apply to the proposed development? To the extent it does apply, does the OPA and ZBA conform to the policies of the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan, including policies 6.5, 6.21, 6.23, 6.24, 6.25, 6.26, 6.27 and 6.28?

County of Simcoe Official Plan:

1. Does the proposed development conform to the County of Simcoe Official Plan, including policies 3.3.15, 3.3.16, 3.13.4, 3.13.9, 3.13.18 - 3.13.25, and 3.14.1?

Town of Innisfil Official Plan:

1. Does the proposed development conform to or maintain the intent of the Big Bay Point Resort Secondary Plan, including Policies 4.2, 4.3.1, 4.3.2, 4.3.3, 4.3.4, 4.3.7, 4.3.10, 4.3.12, 4.4, 5.3, 5.4, 6.1, 6.2.1, 6.2.3, 6.2.4, 6.3, 6.5.1, 6.5.4, 7.1, 7.2, 11.1, 11.3, 11.4, 11.5, 11.6, 11.7, 13.1, 13.2, 13.6, 13.8?

General

6. Does the proposed development provide for an appropriate increase in overall permitted units?

7. Is the proposed increase in permitted height for the hotel use appropriate?

8. Is the proposed increase in permitted height for the resort residential apartment buildings appropriate?

9. Does the cumulative impact of the proposed buildings reflect an appropriate built form?

10. Is the reduction in minimum required hotel units appropriate, and does it have an unacceptable impact on the nature and functionality of the resort development?

11. Does the proposed amendment provide for appropriate phasing with respect to provision of hotel units?

12. Does the proposed development within the environmental protection area constitute a minor adjustment?

13. Would the proposed development result in an inappropriate negative impact to the environmental protection area?

14. Does the proposed development within the environmental protection area represent appropriate development of such lands?

15. Is the proposed development in the public interest and does it represent good planning?

Issue of Ana Goncalves, Ann Hunt, Anna D’Alessandro, Brent Hughes, Christine Crowley, Dave Rae, Dirk and Donna Cockburn, Jackie Green, Janice Sanders, Anne Marie Gelinas and Mike Jessop, and Tony Muscat

16. Is the proposed development in the public interest?

Attachment 3

Order of Evidence

1. Friday Harbour Resort Holdings Inc.

2. Ana Goncalves, Ann Hunt, Anna D’Alessandro, Brent Hughes, Christine Crowley, Dave Rae, Dirk and Donna Cockburn, Jackie Green, Janice Sanders, Anne Marie Gelinas and Mike Jessop, and Tony Muscat

3. Town of Innisfil

4. County of Simcoe

5. Darren Vella

6. Reply of Friday Harbour Resort Holdings Inc. (if any)

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.