The comment period is now closed. Thank you to everyone who participated and shared your feedback.

The draft policy will be revised and finalized for presentation to Council on February 11, 2025 for Council consideration.
The report packet will be made publicly available in the council agenda two weeks in advance of the meeting. Learn how to speak or share comments with council in February on our website.

Municipal Service and Financing Agreements (MSFA), also known as “front-ending” agreements, are a finance tool that can help advance development in our city. MSFAs allow local governments and developers to work together to get roads, water services, and wastewater services built faster. This will help bring new housing and jobs to our city more quickly.

The City of Guelph is developing a MSFA policy to guide how these agreements are created. Our focus is to not impact taxes and rates while supporting the needs of our growing community.

For some helpful background on the City of Guelph’s MSFA policy, you can read the “Municipal Service and Financing Agreement Consultant Report.” This report reviews and analyzes different ways to finance the upfront costs of building infrastructure for new development.

The formal engagement period for this policy has closed.

On September 13, 2024, we held the first Virtual Public Open House for developers and the broader community. Hemson Consulting shared an update, and then attendees had a chance to ask questions and provide comments.

Here is a summary of what we heard:

• The need for proper controls around agreement creation was clear. Attendees wanted to ensure that development under this tool happens efficiently and responsibly.
• Interest in how this policy might address housing affordability.
• Questions around how projects supported by this agreement will be prioritized.
• A need for processes for the City to ensure that infrastructure built by developers will meet the City’s standards.
• Questions about the mandatory development charge exemptions and how discounts will impact the City through these agreements.
• Concerns about how advancing growth could impact demand on ground water supply and healthcare resources.

These topics were considered in the development of the MSFA policy. You can find more details in the document “Municipal Service and Financing Agreements Update – 2024.” It includes:

• Benefits, risks, and impacts of Municipal Servicing and Financing Agreements
• Insights from our first round of engagement

On November 20, 2024 we posted the Draft policy online and presented it in a virtual open house on Monday November 25, to answer questions and receive feedback on the draft. On December 1, the comment period officially closed. Thank you to everyone who shared feedback with our project team.

We are now in the process of revising and finalizing the policy for presentation to council on February 11, 2025. The report packet will be made publicly available in the council agenda two weeks in advance of the meeting. Learn how to speak or share comments with council in February on our website.

Contact our project team for more information

Kevin Yarakavitch, Senior Corporate Analyst, Financial Strategy
kevin.yaraskavitch@guelph.ca
519-822-1260 ext. 3986