Ontario Municipal Board

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The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) is an independent administrative tribunal that hears applications and appeals on municipal and planning matters such as zoning bylaws, subdivision plans, official plans, consents and minor variances under the Planning Act, assessment appeals under the Assessment Act, land compensation matters under the Expropriations Act, and objections to municipal proposals to borrow to finance capital works under the Municipal Act and other legislation in the province of Ontario, Canada, as provided for under the Ontario Municipal Board Act. One of the oldest tribunals in the province, the OMB was created in 1897.

The Provincial Cabinet determines the number of members, makes appointments and designates one member as chair and one or more vice-chairs. Where, (a) the chair is absent or unable to act, a vice-chair designated by the chair; or (b) the office of chair is vacant, a vice-chair designated by the Attorney General, exercises the jurisdiction and powers of the chair, including the power to complete any unfinished matter

The Chair, Vice-Chairs and Members come from a variety of professions, and include: lawyers, planners, engineers, architects, accountants, farmers, environmentalists, teachers, business owners, and administrators.

Board members are responsible for the adjudication of disputes between parties appearing before the Board pursuant to the governing Act. In carrying out this responsibility, members prepare for hearings, conduct hearings and make rulings and/or write decisions. Members conduct hearings as assigned by the Chair, in accordance with the Act and other applicable laws and with the policies, procedures and rules of the Board. Members make rulings and decisions on the basis of evidence and submissions and issue decisions in a timely manner. In preparing for the hearing, members review materials submitted by parties, conduct necessary research, identify opportunities for alternative ways of resolving the dispute and bring this to the attention of the Chair or the Chair's designate and make such preliminary rulings as may be necessary. Members also participate in Board member meetings, and when requested to do so by the Chair or the Chair's designate, in training and mentoring sessions and in committees established for the administration of the Board's adjudicative role. Appointees are expected to have the following abilities, skills and knowledge in order to carry out their responsibilities effectively: Demonstrated analytical, conceptual, problem-solving and writing skills; ability to listen and communicate clearly and effectively; computer literacy; good organization skills; well-developed dispute resolution skills; ability to objectively and fairly assess cases involving difficult issues regarding conflicting verbal/written evidence and the assessment of credibility; willingness to travel throughout the province for the purpose of conducting hearings; self-confidence; understanding of the justice system and the role of administrative tribunals in that system; expert knowledge of the Board's governing Act and related law or the ability to acquire such expert knowledge; understanding of the professional, institutional and community context within which the Board operates.

In December 2007 there are 28 members of the Board. Most of them are designated Senior Management Group 1 for the purposes of compensation, and are paid between $CDN 89,000 and $CDN 101,000 per annum.

[edit] Politics

The OMB has been criticized, especially by activists and environmental groups but in general across the broad population, for supporting developers in most disputes. This is partly due to the fact that approximately 75% of judgements rendered in the past 10 years have been favourable to the developers involved and partly due to the fact that it is very difficult for ordinary citizens to get any representation in the process due to the high cost of participation in terms of dollars and time - developers typically have large budgets dedicated to lobbying and representation for such cases and treat the expenses involved as loss leaders. In particular, developments opposed by municipal councils have been approved by the OMB, fostering resentment among some residents who dislike a central, provincial-level administrative body "interfering" with local municipal issues. This resentment may be accounted for by the way in which the OMB interprets its mandate to step in "when people can't resolve their differences on community planning issues". As a result of recent amendments to the Planning Act (Ontario) the OMB is now required to have regard to the decision of local councils in determining the outcome of an appeal. However, proponents of the OMB cite that appeal hearings are based on specific criteria, including:

official plans
zoning by-laws
subdivision plans
provincial land-use policies and sound planning principles

In general however these criteria tend to be at best referred to for justification of a developer friendly decision using terms and reports that typically are designed to be impenetrable to those outside the process.

Sometimes local councils will refuse planning applications that are politically sensitive, notwithstanding the merits of the application, and leave it up to the OMB to make the sensitive decision for them.

On this basis, recent amendments to the Planning Act (Ontario) limiting what matters may or may not be appealed to the OMB, can be considered as "council reform", rather than "OMB reform".