Development Charges are a one-time fee levied by municipalities on new residential and non-residential properties to help pay for a portion of the growth-related capital infrastructure costs. Development charges are part of North Grenville's “growth pays for growth-related costs” strategy.

The Province provides municipalities in Ontario with the option of imposing Development Charges, by way of the Development Charges Act, and stipulates the methodology and formula by which to determine the maximum allowable amount that new growth can be charged.

In order to establish Development Charges in a community, a Background Study must first be prepared, which summarizes the growth-related capital costs which are anticipated over the foreseeable planning timeframe. There are mandatory notification periods, public meetings and appeal procedures which must be fulfilled before a Municipality can enact a "Development Charges By-law."

North Grenville's current Development Charges Background Study was completed on July 5th, 2019 and the current Development Charges By-law No. 104-19 was enacted on November 19th, 2019. For the first year, only fifty percent of the increase will be applied. There are currently no development charges for new builds located in the downtown core, or for affordable housing.

The location of the subject property in the Municipality will determine the amount of the Development Charges (i.e. rural area versus the urban service area). There are three distinct assessment areas with the urban service area of Kemptville, which are delineated on Schedule "A" of By-law 104-19.

Once the location of the property has been established, then the appropriate Development Charge can be determined based on the type of development being proposed (i.e. single dwelling, semi-detached, townhouse, non-residential, etc) using Schedule "C" of By-law 104-19.

The Development Charge amounts shown on Schedule "C" are adjusted annually in accordance with Statistics Canada Quarterly, Construction Price Statistics catalogue.

North Grenville also has an area-specific Development Charges By-law No. 54-18, for the establishment of a regional storm-water pond, which is only assessed to properties within the North-west Quadrant as identified on Schedule "A" of By-law No. 54-18. The Development Charges are shown on Schedule "C" of By-law No. 54-18.

The North-west Quadrant area specific Development Charge is in addition to the overall Development Charges assessed in By-law 104-19.

Development Charge By-Laws expire five years after the date on which they come into force, as set out in Section 9 of the Development Charges Act, 1997. North Grenville's By-law No. 104-19 is set to expire on November 19th, 2024. The Municipality will begin the process to adopt a new Development Charges By-law before the current one expires. Notices of the Public Meetings for the new Background Study and By-law will be posted on the Municipality's website.