program may continue for up to three years while remediation and redevelopment are taking place.

The value of tax cancellation must be offset by eligible costs, which are the costs of any action taken to reduce the concentration of contaminants on, in, or under the property to permit a RSC to be filed (e.g. Phase II ESA, Risk Assessment, environmental remediation, placing of clean fill, installing environmental controls, monitoring, environmental insurance premiums, etc.).

To enact the program, Council must pass a tax cancellation by-law and make application to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (i.e. on behalf of the owner) for cancellation of the education portion of the tax levy under the Provincial Brownfield Financial Tax Incentive Program (BFTIP). A tax cancellation agreement between the City and the owner is also required, which would cause any tax cancellation be repaid should a RSC not be filed.

Brownfield Rehabilitation Grant Program

The Brownfield Rehabilitation Grant Program starts after the Brownfield Property Tax Assistance Program and Provincial BFTIP are complete. The purpose of the program is to encourage the remediation, rehabilitation and adaptive re-use of brownfield sites by providing grants to help pay for remediation costs not fully disbursed by the Brownfield Tax Assistance Program and BFTIP as well as non-environmental rehabilitation costs normally associated with brownfield site redevelopment (e.g. demolishing buildings, development application and building permit fees, and upgrading on-site /off-site infrastructure).

The program offers annual grants funded through the increase in municipal property tax levy created by the investment for up to 10 years to help offset eligible costs. In total the Tax Assistance and Rehabilitation Grant programs may offer up to 13 years of tax-based incentives. The annual grants are based on 70% of the difference between the municipal tax levy at the time of grant issuance and the date of approval to participate in the program. Annual grants are only paid out following the filing of a RSC, reassessment of the property and the payment of the property taxes for the year in which the grant is to be provided.

The CIP specifies Brownfield Rehabilitation Grants will equal 70% of the municipal property tax increase for a project that employs standard construction methods and 100% of the municipal property tax increase for projects that achieve any level of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. Should Council wish to approve less than the maximum Brownfield Rehabilitation Grant value it would achieve this by limiting how many years the grant payments would continue (i.e. between 1 and 10 years). Or a maximum grant limit may be imposed by Council.