On May 12, 2025, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (the MMAH) announced the Protect Ontario by Building Faster and Smarter Act, 2025 (the Act). Minister Rob Flack, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, stated that the Act will "protect Ontario in the face of economic uncertainty by speeding up construction so we can lower housing costs and keep workers on the job." Minister Flack also stated that the Act was developed in close partnership with Ontario's municipalities and is responsive to recommendations and requests from municipal leaders.
The Act was released on the afternoon of May 12, 2025, and is under review by Dentons. The MMAH has, however, summarized the proposed changes in a morning news release and has also released a Technical Briefing which provides an overview of the Act. According to the MMAH, the Act will:
- Simplify, streamline and bring consistency and transparency to development applications, land use planning approvals and the contents of municipal official plans;
- Simplify and standardize the development charges regime, including by allowing developers to defer the payment of development charges for residential development until building occupancy;
- Streamline the planning and delivery of transit-oriented communities, speed up the construction of major transit projects and provide the authority to issue Minister's Zoning Orders in Transit Oriented Communities to the Minister of Infrastructure; and
- Establish consistent building construction standards across Ontario, including with respect to road building standards.
The MMAH states that the proposed changes will reduce costly local development fees and charges, reduce construction costs, expedite projects, create more jobs and housing options near transit and make it easier and faster to build residential, commercial and industrial buildings within and across Ontario's municipalities.
The Act was introduced in conjunction with the announcement of expanded investments in critical infrastructure projects that are aimed at creating jobs and building homes. Specifically, the province is adding CA$400 million in funding to the Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund (HEWSF) and Municipal Housing Infrastructure Fund (MHIP) for a total of nearly CA$2.3 billion over four years across the HEWSF and the MHIP.
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