Site Readiness Program

Overview of the Site Readiness Program program:

The Site Readiness Program provides industrial property owners with the tools and funding needed to conduct due diligence and prepare their sites for industrial development. The program focuses on ensuring sites are properly zoned, serviceable, and accessible to utilities and transportation. Participants can receive reimbursement of up to 50% of eligible costs, to a maximum of $25,000 per site, for completing essential assessments such as environmental site reports, utility plans, and transportation access studies. Eligible sites must meet specific criteria, including being zoned for industrial uses, having a minimum contiguous developable area of 5 acres, and possessing at least two essential services (e.g., water, wastewater, electricity, or natural gas) at the lot line or nearby. For under-serviced sites, applicants must demonstrate that services can be extended within two years.

Benefits of the Site Readiness Program program:

• Financial Support: Participants can receive reimbursement of 50% of eligible expenses, up to a maximum of $25,000 per application, upon program completion.
• Eligible expenses include costs associated with various site due diligence assessments and documentation prepared by qualified professionals, such as environmental site assessments, archaeological studies, and utility plans.

Eligibility criteria of the Site Readiness Program program:

• Zoning: The property must be designated for industrial uses in the approved municipal Official Plan and zoned within the municipalitys comprehensive Zoning By-Law to permit a wide range of industrial uses.
• Property Size: The site must consist of at least five acres (2.02 hectares) of vacant, contiguous net developable area.
• Servicing Requirements: The property must have a minimum of two of the following services at the lot line or within 500 meters: municipal water, municipal wastewater, electricity, natural gas, or telecommunication. For services not present, applicants must demonstrate that the site is serviceable within two years of acceptance into the program.
• Accessibility: The property must have existing public road access or be accessible by public road.
• Ownership: The program is open to both public and privately owned land. The applicant must be the registered owner of the site and willing to enter into a contract with the province to participate in the program.
• Development Constraints: The property must be free from significant development constraints that could impact the developable area or range of industrial uses permitted on the site.