City of Vaughan

Highlights

• The LandPRO Conference brings together more than 1,000 top land professionals to learn insights, strategies, and issues affecting the land industry.
• Vaughan remains a centre for development, issuing nearly 2,300 building permits totaling $1.89 billion in construction value in 2024.
• Vaughan’s construction and building materials sector is integral to supporting residential, commercial, and industrial building growth across Ontario and Canada.
• Highlights from the programming included:
  • The key macroeconomic trends affecting Canadians include modest increases in mortgage interest costs, population growth, a weakening condo market, GST cuts to homes, tariff impacts, United States economic volatility, and market diversification on the horizon.
  • Impacts of new housing sales and incentives through GST cuts on homes for first-time homebuyers and pre-zoning.
  • Development industry best practices, which included a case study for residential development, specifically purpose-built rental buildings, including municipal incentives to support these projects.
  • A review of significant planning policy changes over the past year, including the removal of planning authorities under Bill 185, updates to Provincial Policy Statement on Major Transit Station Areas (MTSAs), and Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) mandates, which are to be reviewed in two years.

---

BACKGROUND

The LandPRO Conference brings together more than 1,000 top land professionals to learn insights, strategies, and issues affecting the land industry.

LandPRO Conference is an annual premier “how-to” conference for land, condo, real estate and development professionals in the GTA and throughout Ontario. The conference sees more than 1,000 top land professionals for a day of learning and insights, strategies, and issues that are affecting the land industry.

Last year, staff attended the LandPRO conference and shared key insights:

• Key macroeconomic trends affecting Canadians included labour market conditions returning to pre-pandemic levels, efforts by central banks to lower inflation, the pre-construction condominium market facing significant challenges, and risks of disinflation.
• Land trends indicated growing interest for medium density residential land despite declining sales in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) market.
• A panel of leading residential builders discussed the state of the industry, focusing on challenges, opportunities, and trends for condominium development in the GTA.
• Changes to planning legislation, including Bill 23 and Ontario Regulation 41/24 for Conservation Authorities, and Bill 134 for new definitions of affordable residential units and ‘income-based’ rents and purchase prices.

Vaughan remains a centre for development, issuing nearly 2,300 building permits totaling $1.89 billion in construction value in 2024.

While 2023 saw a record year of residential development by construction value in the city, 2024 was dominated by a record year of industrial development[1].

The city is one of the top non-residential development markets in the country, ranking tenth in Canada by construction value of building permits for non-residential buildings[2]. Vaughan issued more than $1.1 billion in construction value of non-residential building permits in 2024, marking a 77 per cent increase year-over-year. Specifically, Vaughan saw a record-breaking industrial development year in 2024[3]. The city ranked third overall in the country by both the number and value of industrial building permits[4]. Industrial building permits accounted for more than $815.5 million in construction value in 2024, a 116 per cent increase from 2023.

Since 2014, the City has issued more than 42,000 building permits representing more than $17 billion in construction value[5].

Vaughan’s construction and building materials sector is integral to supporting residential, commercial, and industrial building growth across Ontario and Canada.

Vaughan’s construction and building materials industries are comprised of nearly 2,000 businesses that employ more than 60,000 employees. Vaughan boasts in-demand industry concentrations including steel product manufacturing, glass and glass product manufacturing, architectural metals manufacturing, building finishing contractors, land subdivisions and residential building construction. The city’s construction industry contributed $4 billion in real GDP to Vaughan’s economy in 2023.

---

The programming saw a number of speakers highlighting emerging trends and issues for the industry in 2025. Key highlights from the programming included:

1. The key macroeconomic trends affecting Canadians include modest increases in mortgage interest costs, population growth, a weakening condo market, GST cuts to homes, tariff impacts, United States economic volatility, and market diversification on the horizon.

Benjamin Tal, Managing Director and Deputy Chief Economist at CIBC Capital Markets, delivered an economic update highlighting key macroeconomic trends affecting Canadians.

Highlights included:

• Amidst the onset of mortgage renewals, 40 per cent of mortgage renewals are projected to face lower payments, leading to a more modest aggregate increase in mortgage interest costs (MIC).
• Canada’s population trends indicate short-term wage and spending contractions, offset by the inclusion of more than 1.2 million people who entered the country over the past two years in future immigration forecasts.
  • As a result, Canada will see a 3.5 per cent increase in population growth, compared to a 0.9 per cent average amongst other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.
• Toronto’s condo market is weakening due to price gaps between new and resale condos and a dwindling housing construction supply.
  • Forecasts indicate that the lack of new condo construction and lowered interest rates will heighten demand with limited supply within two years.
  • Strategies, including proposed GST cuts for first-time homebuyers, were highlighted to address the Canadian housing crisis.
• Economic impacts as a result of tariffs are expected to be concentrated in a few sectors, particularly in Ontario and Quebec, with primary metals and transportation equipment subsectors in manufacturing expect to be the most affected.
• Compared to President Donald Trump’s first presidency, the current presidency shows signs of heightened volatility, including a decline in the United States’ Economic Surprise Index, S&P 500 Index, United States 10-year yield index, employment quality, wage growth, and excess savings, along with an increase in dependency on emerging markets’ consumers and multiple jobholders.
• Challenges remain for Canada to diversify in other countries, such as a potential for more dependency on the United States as an outcome of pending United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) negotiations, and minimal improvements to trade diversification in the past decade[6].

2. Impacts of new housing sales and incentives through GST cuts on homes for first-time homebuyers and pre-zoning.

Scott Aitchison, Member of Parliament (MP) for Parry Sound-Muskoka, delivered a presentation on Goods and Sales Tax (GST) cuts and its impacts on new housing sales and incentives.

Highlights included:

• The average approval times amongst Greater Toronto Area (GTA) municipalities had an average of 19.4 months, compared to a national average of 11.6 months[7].
• Potential federal strategies, including potential GST cuts on homes for first-time homebuyers, to increase housing supply.
• Other efforts proposed to reduce costs such as pre-zoning lands surrounding subway stations and light rail transit to high-density residential uses before development approvals process is underway.

3. Development industry best practices, which included a case study for residential development, specifically purpose-built rental buildings, including municipal incentives to support these projects.

Steve Deveaux, Vice President of Land Development at Tribute Communities, moderated a panel discussion on best practices in the planning process and development industry. The panel featured The Daniels Corporation, Tridel, Trinity Point, and KingSett Capital representatives.

Highlights included:

• The City of Mississauga has reduced development charges by 50 per cent for all residential units and 100 per cent for three-bedroom units in purpose-built rental buildings. Payments are deferred until occupancy to ease the financial burden on developers. These measures aim to stimulate housing development and address the housing crisis.
• The City of Mississauga has a policy that allows developers to book a meeting with the housing commissioner after rounds of back-and-forth discussions with planning staff. This policy aims to facilitate smoother communication and resolution of issues related to development projects.
• To expedite the approval process, some municipalities have started eliminating committees of adjustment and allowing planning staff to oversee minor variance applications.
• The foreign buyer’s tax in Ontario, known as the Non-Resident Speculation Tax (NRST), is a 25 per cent fee imposed on non-resident individuals, foreign corporations, or taxable trustees when purchasing residential property. This tax aims to reduce speculative buying by foreign investors, making housing more affordable for local residents. The developers on this panel proposed removing this tax to increase housing supply by signaling to investors that Canada welcomes their investments. Their position was that the current policy could dissuade investors from investing in Canada, and its removal would encourage investment and support the development of new housing projects.

4. A review of significant planning policy changes over the past year, including the removal of planning authorities under Bill 185, updates to Provincial Policy Statement on Major Transit Station Areas (MTSAs), and Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) mandates, which are to be reviewed in two years.

Leo F. Longo, a partner of Aird Berlis’ Municipal & Land Use Planning Group, reviewed significant planning policy changes over the past year.

Highlights include:

• Policy Change: Removal of Planning Authority for Upper Tier Municipalities
  • Bill 23, the More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022, introduced the concept of upper-tier municipalities without planning responsibilities. Subsequently, Bill 185, the Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act, 2024, announced the removal of planning responsibilities from seven upper-tier municipalities, including the Region of York, effective July 1, 2024. As a result, the listed upper-tier municipalities no longer have the statutory authority to adopt official plans or amendments, approve lower-tier plans or amendments, approve plans of subdivision and consents, or appeal planning decisions.
  • Despite the removal of planning responsibilities, upper-tier municipalities will still have significant roles that must be considered in development planning. The 2024 Provincial Policy Statement (PPS) requires coordination between upper-tier and lower-tier municipalities. This coordination includes ongoing consultation with upper-tier municipalities on growth-related matters.
• Update: Provincial Policy Statement on Major Transit Station Areas (MTSAs)
  • The new PPS (largely) carries forward the definition of and policies pertaining to MTSAs.
  • Municipalities have restrictions on appealing MTSA Official Plan Amendments (OPAs) and Zoning By-law Amendments (ZBAs) under the Planning Act. Developers face difficulties challenging these policies because the Planning Act provides robust protections against appeals, ensuring that municipalities can enforce density and height regulations without interference. Recent cases, such as COLLECTIV (8868 Yonge) GP Inc. v Richmond Hill, 2024 CanLII 83215 (OLT)[8], show that angular plane provisions cannot be appealed.

• Notice: Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) Review
  • The Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) adjudicates disputes related to land use planning, environmental and heritage protection, land valuation, land compensation, municipal finance, and related matters.
  • The OLT’s mandate will be reassessed in two years. The reassessment of the OLT’s mandate in two years is significant because it could lead to changes in how planning appeals are conducted in Ontario.

[1] Building Standards Department, City of Vaughan. (2024). Summary of Construction Activity to December 31, 2024.

[2] Statistics Canada. (2024). Value and Number of Permits for the New Top 30 CSDs Residential and Non-Residential Buildings.

[3] Building Standards Department, City of Vaughan. (2024). Summary of Construction Activity to December 31, 2024.

[4] Statistics Canada. (2024). Value and Number of Permits for the New Top 30 CSDs Residential and Non-Residential Buildings.

[5] Building Standards Department, City of Vaughan. (2024). Summary of Construction Activity to December 31, 2024.

[6] CIBC. (2025). Economics In Focus – Trade diversification: Breaking up is hard to do.

[7] BILD GTA. (2025). New National Housing Study Reinforces that GTA Municipalities have Significant Opportunities for Improvement.

[8] COLLECTIV (8868 Yonge) GP Inc. v. Richmond Hill, 2024 CanLII 83215 (ONCA 2024).