Annex Council Adopts Revised Development Levy Schedule, Raising Costs for New Housing Projects

The Annex municipal council voted 7-4 on July 3 to approve a revised Community Benefits Levy schedule, the first comprehensive update to the fee structure since 2019. The change affects any new residential or mixed-use development requiring a building permit after August 1, 2026. For a mid-sized infill project of roughly 12 units, the per-door levy rises from $4,200 to $6,850, a 63 percent increase that planning staff say reflects seven years of construction cost inflation and deferred infrastructure investment.

The timing matters. The Annex has absorbed an estimated 340 new residential units since 2022, according to figures presented to council in the May 2026 planning committee report, and public consultations held in March and April flagged transit crowding and aging parkland as the two most pressing neighbourhood concerns. The levy revision is the council's primary mechanism for tying development growth directly to the local services that growth puts pressure on.

What Residents Will See on the Ground

For existing Annex residents, the most visible near-term effect is expected to be capital works in Borden Park and along the Dupont Street corridor. Council's 2026-2027 capital budget, passed in February, earmarked $1.1 million for park infrastructure renewal contingent on levy revenue reaching a revised projection. The new levy schedule, policy analysts say, is designed to close a $480,000 shortfall in that projection. Work on the Borden Park washroom and pathway resurfacing is now projected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2026, roughly six months earlier than the previous timeline.

Renters and prospective buyers should expect the levy increase to feed into project costs. Local advocates for affordable housing note that per-door charges of this scale are typically passed through to end-users, either as higher sale prices or rents, depending on tenure type. The council's levy bylaw does include a partial exemption for projects that designate at least 20 percent of units as affordable under the city's Affordable Housing Access Program criteria, reducing the per-door charge on qualifying units to $3,100. Developers have until September 30 to apply for that designation on projects already in the permitting queue.

Budget Figures and the Infrastructure Gap

The council's infrastructure reserve fund stood at $2.3 million at the close of the 2025 fiscal year, against an identified 10-year need of $9.7 million documented in the 2024 Asset Management Plan. At the previous levy rate, that gap was projected to widen. Under the revised schedule, planning staff told council the reserve is expected to reach $4.1 million by 2030, assuming permit volumes hold near their 2023-2025 average of roughly 55 applications per year. Staff acknowledged that a slowdown in development activity, possible given higher carrying costs for builders, could reduce actual receipts below that projection.

The council also directed staff to report back by November 30 on whether a separate levy tier for purpose-built rental buildings is warranted, following a motion from the planning committee chair. That review will draw on data from the city's 2025 Housing Needs Assessment, which found that 58 percent of Annex households rent rather than own, a proportion well above the citywide average. Any additional policy change arising from that review would require a further council vote and would not affect permits filed before the review is complete.

For residents watching the process, the next formal checkpoint is the council's quarterly levy revenue update, scheduled for the October 14 regular meeting. That report will show how many permits were filed at the new rate in August and September and give the first indication of whether the capital works funding projections are tracking as intended. Residents can access the full levy bylaw and the May 2026 planning committee report through the council's public document portal.