Committee receives audit of development application review process and discusses planned improvements

The City of Ottawa’s Audit Committee met today and received an audit report on the system for reviewing development applications, a key process in the City’s work to increase housing supply and affordability. 

After discussing the audit findings, committee members reviewed the City’s plans to address the audit’s recommendations and make improvements to processes and the municipal regulatory environment for new housing development.  

The Office of the Auditor General (OAG) found that, overall, the time it takes to process many types of applications is decreasing. The report notes that this trend comes following the City’s implementation of multiple, significant and ongoing legislative changes as well as strategic priorities directly targeting development. 

Development application reviews are the process through which the City manages requests from individuals and organizations seeking to begin development activities, including those that result in new construction, changing land use regulations, and the creation of new parcels of land. The efficient review of these applications is a critical part of the City’s mission to make the construction of new homes easier and more predictable. 

While the audit found that overall processing times are decreasing, it also highlighted that timelines have been getting longer for subdivision and site plan control applications, especially during the post-approval stage when legal agreements are being finalized between the City and developers. 

The audit makes seven recommendations to further improve the City’s processes for reviewing development applications, including those in the post-approval stage. City management confirmed their agreement with each of the recommendations and outlined plans to implement the changes, some of them by the end of this year. 

The Audit Committee also received the OAG’s semi-annual report on follow-up procedures for various ongoing audits. The report stated that, of the 480 recommendations issued since 2019, 77 per cent have been assessed and closed, 20 per cent have yet to be reviewed, and three per cent require further follow-up.  

Additionally, the committee received follow-up reports on the City’s Enterprise Risk Management practices, cybersecurity and a cybersecurity investigation. 

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