Is provincial EDC regulation “constitutionally inoperative” and unfair?

Since our inception as a campaign in Spring 2014, Fix Our Schools has urged the provincial government to change its outdated regulation regarding eligibility and use of Education Development Charges (EDCs). Over the past four years, the issue of EDCs has surfaced countless times as a possible (albeit partial!) funding solution for the $15.9-billion repair backlog plaguing Ontario’s publicly funded schools.

On February 27, 2018, Globe & Mail reporter Caroline Alphonso reported that the TDSB, Canada’s largest school board, has challenged the Ontario government over the equity of its EDC regulation in an article entitled, “TDSB challenges “unfair” development-charge regulation”.

In its filing to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the TDSB pointed out that, while it is obligated under the Education Act to provide “adequate accommodation” to all students who have a right to attend its schools, “the TDSB is not able to adequately plan for and address the accommodation pressures occasioned by that growth.”

“The law says one thing and the regulation, in our opinion, contradicts the law. We don’t think that’s appropriate,” TDSB chair Robin Pilkey said in an interview on Tuesday.

Fix Our Schools is thrilled to see the TDSB demanding a change to the provincial EDC regulation and continues to support EDCs as an important part of the overall funding solution to address $15.9-billion of disrepair in Ontario’s schools. On October 29, 2017, Fix Our Schools was quoted in the Toronto Star article entitled, “Parents want Developers to Kick In and Help Expand Overcrowded Toronto Schools“:

“If developers are choosing to build in a certain area, in large part it’s because of good schools their buyers can go to,” said Fix Our Schools co-founder Krista Wylie. “So surely to goodness if a developer is benefitting . . . then they should contribute back.” Wylie went on to say that restrictions should be loosened so those charges can be used to address the estimated $15.9 billion repair backlog in Ontario’s schools needing new roofs and furnaces.