A Community Benefits Agreement (“CBA”) is a legally enforceable contract – most often a private contract (Community Benefits Agreements, by Julian Gross) – that addresses a range of community interests, and is the product of substantial community involvement with respect to a development project (Community Benefits Agreements: Definitions, Values and Legal Enforceability, by Julian Gross). Frameworks for agreements of this nature have recently become a reality in the province of Ontario, and when the Infrastructure for Jobs and Prosperity Act (“Infrastructure Act”), which received Royal Assent on June 4, 2015, comes into force, CBAs could become an important tool in the equitable distribution of infrastructure development wealth for not-for-profit community coalitions and organizations.
In general, CBAs are agreements that contain legally binding obligations on community organizations, community coalitions and public, as well as private developers, to ensure that development or redevelopment meets a set of criteria which will benefit the communities in which they are taking place. The number and kind of criteria are varied and depend largely on the vision and goals of the community organizations or coalitions seeking them. For example, a community organization or coalition seeking a CBA could require a developer to hire a certain percentage of employees from within the community for a particular development, or ensure that certain environmental concessions, such as for green space, are made, or commit to the allocation of a certain amount of commercial space for charitable or non-profit organizations within the areas being developed. In return for obtaining these contractual promises from developers, community organizations normally commit to a legal obligation to support the project in the media and public hearings, and agree to release any administrative or legal claims against the developer.
The Toronto Community Benefits Network (“TCBN”), one of the organizations responsible for the inclusion of community benefits in the Infrastructure Act, recently piloted a Community Benefits Framework (“Framework”) modeled on a CBA. It ensures that developers will draw apprenticeship jobs from disadvantaged communities in the area during the construction of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT. This Framework, the first of its kind in Ontario, is bolstered by the inclusion of the community benefits principle in the Infrastructure Planning Principles of the Infrastructure Act.
Though not yet in force, the Infrastructure Act will be a key component in guiding how the Province will spend an estimated $130 billion in infrastructure over the next 10 years. The community benefits principle in the Infrastructure Act promotes the engagement of community organizations with private and public developers as these development projects commence. The Infrastructure Act includes community benefits such as the improvement of communities affected by projects with job creation and training opportunities, and improvement of public spaces in the community, among others. Where provincial dollars are being spent on public infrastructure, CBAs, such as the one between TCBN and the LRT developers, serve as a mechanism for distributing those dollars in a more beneficial way for the community.
With momentum for CBAs growing in Ontario, particularly as a result of the Infrastructure Act, not-for-profits engaged in community development will want to pay close attention to the evolution of CBAs as they develop in the coming years and become more prolific.