Development charges (DCs) are fees the town collects from property developers and used in future to build roads, transit, recreation centres, parks, fire stations and other infrastructure. DCs are collected when the town issues building permits to developers. In addition, the town collects development charges on behalf of Halton Region and the area school boards.
The 2022 Development Charges Background Study (pdf) has been released, the study and next steps in the process can be found here.
For more information on the 2022 Development Charges Background Study, please visit our the Development Charges By-law page.
Payment of development charges may be required for residential and non-residential development when:
Please refer to the Development Charges By-law 2018-001 and Amending By-law 2021-016 for more information.
The Town of Oakville’s development charge rates are subject to annual indexing on April 1 in accordance with the most recent twelve month change in the Statistics Canada Quarterly, Construction Price Statistics (Non-residential Building Construction Price Index).
For the town and region, development charges are based on your site plan or zoning application, as found on your letter of complete application (if a development has both planning applications, the site plan application is used). If your development is not proceeding through these planning applications, or if your application pre-dates January 1, 2020, please refer to the current rate schedule.
Education rates are based on the current Education rate schedule.
Development charge rate schedules prior to January 1, 2020 can be found on the historical development charges page.
For current rates, please enter today's date.
Please note: The download charges request will not download content unless you enable pop-ups on your browser. Please ensure pop-ups are not being blocked for this application.
Please use the Development Charges map to determine where your development is located in order to interpret the rate schedule by searching the address and determining whether the property is built boundary or greenfield.
Please use the Development Charges map to determine where your development is located in order to interpret the rate schedule by searching the address and determining whether the property is built boundary or greenfield.
The Corporation of the Town of Oakville collects development charges under the authority of the Development Charges Act, 1997 (DCA) and the Town Development Charges By-law. Development charges shall be collected in a financially sustainable manner in order to fund growth related capital costs and deliver complete communities.
To learn more about this, review our Development Charges Interest Policy.
Education development charges are imposed by the Halton District School Board and the Halton Catholic District School Board under the authority of the Education Act. Education development charges are payable at the rate in effect at building permit issuance. The current education development charges are:
Rates as of July 4, 2021
HDSB: $5,492
HCDSB: $3,469
Total: $8,961
HDSB: $14.10 ($1.31)
HCDSB: $9.04 ($0.84)
Total: $23.14 ($2.15)
The Development Charges Act provides for certain mandated exemptions, such as;
The town provides further exemptions in Development Charges By-law 2018-001, such as;
Demolition credits will be provided against applicable development charges where buildings or structures have been demolished to permit the redevelopment of the property. The credit is based on the number and type of residential units demolished and/or the total floor area and type of non-residential building or structures demolished, and is available for five years from the issuance date of the demolition permit.
Please refer to the Halton Region, Halton District School Board and Halton Catholic District School Board websites for information on exemptions and credits pertaining to their development charges.
Parkland dedication fees are separate from development charges, and are subject to By-law 2008-105. Please contact 905-845-6601, ext. 3022 for more information on parkland.
Bill 108, the More Homes, More Choice Act, and Bill 197, the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Act, proposed a number of changes impacting the Development Charges Act, 1997 and the Planning Act. As of September 18, 2020, the amendments to these Acts have been proclaimed and are in force, and include the following:
Municipalities have two years from September 18, 2020, to transition to the new regime by:
The town typically collects development charges at the time when a building permit is issued.
Effective January 1, 2020, changes were made to the timing of development charge payments in accordance with Bill 108, the More Homes, More Choice Act. The following types of development, further defined in Ontario Regulation 454/19, are able to defer development charge payments:
Pay in six annual instalments beginning on the date the building is first occupied, and each of the following five anniversaries of that date
Pay in six annual instalments beginning on the date the building is first occupied, and each of the following five anniversaries of that date
Pay in 21 annual instalments beginning on the date the building is first occupied, and each of the following 20 anniversaries of that date
Interest is charged from the time the development charge would normally have been payable (building permit issuance), until the final payment is received, at the prime lending rate of the town’s financial institution.
Owners may enter into an alternative payment agreement with the town and choose to forego the deferral of development charges, or pay the balance of development charges outstanding at any time during the life of the deferral.
Payments can be made by electronic funds transfer or wire transfer. Payments via cheque may be dropped off at ServiceOakville or mailed to the attention of Development Finance at:
Corporation of the Town of Oakville
1225 Trafalgar Road
Oakville, ON L6H 0H3
To help serve you better, please contact the Finance department before making a payment at 905-338-4196 or DCForms@oakville.ca.
Returned payments are subject to a return item fee of $45. A returned payment may prevent your permit from being issued, or result in your permit being revoked. Any additional charges as a result of a return payment are the responsibility of the applicant.
As required by the Development Charges Act, 1997, the Treasurer for the Town of Oakville shall prepare an annual financial statement reporting on the status and transactions relating to the development charge reserve funds for the previous year. This statement is presented to the Council of the Town of Oakville for their review and may be reviewed upon request. Review the Development Charge Annual Reports.
As the town grows through population and jobs, additional land and infrastructure is needed to continue delivering quality services. The town utilizes three major financial tools to recover these costs from development: Development Charges (DC), Community Benefits Charges (CBC) and Parkland Dedication.
Learn more on our Growth Infrastructure Financing Tools page.
For clarification or further questions please contact the Finance department at DCForms@oakville.ca.
For information on regional and education development charges, please contact Halton Region (DevelopmentCharges@halton.ca or 905-825-6000, ext. 7290) or the Halton District School Board (edc@hdsb.ca or 905-335-3665, ext. 3240)