This provision sets annual rental fees for certain licences, requires yearly payment deadlines, and requires the Minister to publish the fee amounts for the next year by December 1.
Interpretation, adjustments for inflation 1. (1) The amount of the annual rental fee payable under this Regulation is, (a) before the first adjustment under section 3 occurs, the amount determined using the amounts set out in this Regulation; and (b) once an adjustment has occurred under section 3, the amount determined using the amounts as most recently adjusted under that section. (2) The Minister shall ensure that, on or before December 1 of any given year, a list of the amounts used to determine the annual rental fee payable under this Regulation for the following year is published on a website of the Government of Ontario. Rental fee 2. (1) The holder of a research and evaluation licence or a storage licence shall pay to the Minister, before January 1 in each year, the annual rental fee for that year. (2) Before a research and evaluation licence or a storage licence may be issued under subsection 11 (3) of the Act, the applicant for the licence must pay to the Minister the annual rental fee for the year of issuance. (3) If the licence is not valid for the entirety of a given year, the annual rental fee for that year shall be determined on a proportionate basis. (4) The area to be used to determine the annual rental fee is the area specified in the licence under subsection 11 (1) or (2) of the Act, as the case may be, with the exception of any land overlying public pore space referred to in clause (b) of the definition of “public pore space” in subsection 1 (1) of the Act. (5) The annual rental fee for a year is the greater of $500 and, (a) in the case of a research and evaluation licence, (i) $1.00 per hectare of land for the first year, (ii) $2.00 per hectare of land for the second year, (iii) $3.00 per hectare of land for the third year, (iv) $4.00 per hectare of land for the fourth year, and (v) $5.00 per hectare of land for the fifth year and any subsequent year; and (b) in the case of a storage licence, $1.00 per hectare of land. Adjustments for inflation 3. (1) The amounts used to determine the annual rental fee payable under this Regulation shall be adjusted in accordance with this section effective January 1 in each year. (2) The first annual adjustment shall occur in 2027. (3) The annual adjustment of the amounts referred to in subsection (1) shall be determined as follows: 1. The amounts, as they may have been adjusted and applied in the previous calendar year, shall be adjusted by the percentage change in the average Consumer Price Index for Ontario (All-Items). 2. The adjusted amounts determined under paragraph 1 shall be rounded to the nearest cent. (4) For the purposes of subsection (3), the average Consumer Price Index for Ontario (All-items) shall be calculated as the sum of the Consumer Price Index for Ontario (All-items), as reported monthly by Statistics Canada under the authority of the Statistics Act (Canada), for each month in the 12-month period ending September 30 of the previous calendar year, divided by 12. (5) Despite subsections (1) and (2), if the percentage change determined under paragraph 1 of subsection (3) is negative, the amounts used to determine the annual rental fee payable under this Regulation for the calendar year shall remain at the same amounts as for the previous calendar year. 4. Omitted (provides for coming into force of provisions of this Regulation).