Planning application and service fees poised for substantial increases
July 2, 2026 at 3:15 AM
The cost of building in Fort Erie could soon be going up for developers.
Town staff are in the midst of a review of its planning application and service fees. It’s the first review of its kind in several years.
“The purpose of the review is to ensure that our fee schedule adheres to a cost-recovery model and includes a comparison of Planning Application Fees between the Town of Fort Erie and other municipalities (including Niagara Region, Hamilton, and the Greater Toronto Area) to assess reasonableness and fairness and to provide quality service to the development community,” said an emailed response from Town of Fort Erie staff.
The brief emailed response didn’t address how much the costs for such fees could be going up, but a series of screenshots of a presentation shared with Fort Erie Radio showed significant potential increases, with proposed fees tripling the current costs in some areas.
For instance, official plan amendment fees could go from $9,708 to $29,400. Minor and major zoning bylaw amendment fees could increase to $12,900 and $29,400, from the current fees of $4,195 and $10,490, respectively.
The removal of a holding provision had a proposed fee of $3,360, up from the current $653.
Screenshots also showed the town is only recovering about 36 per cent of the total costs of these applications.
“The current fee structure has not been reviewed for a number of years and does not provide for full cost recovery, meaning resident taxpayers are making up the shortfall when application fees don’t cover all the staff time and resources it takes to process a development application,” the emailed response said.
“A full cost recovery model would mean that developers pay the full cost (i.e., not more or less) of processing their development application.”
The town response also said the review included two consultation opportunities with the development community.
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About The Author
Luke Edwards
Luke Edwards is a longtime Niagara community journalist who has covered a variety of beats, including business, agriculture, the wine industry and politics. When not writing, there's a good chance he can be found at a baseball diamond or curling rink.
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