Changes On The Horizon: Bill 60, Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, 2025

Bill 60, the Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, 2025 ("Bill 60") underwent its first reading by the Ontario Government on October 23, 2025 (the "Province"). Under it, the Province is proposing amendments to a number of key pieces of legislation, including the Planning Act, the Development Charges Act, 1997, the Transit Oriented Communities Act, 2020, the Construction Act and several other pieces of legislation to achieve the Province's goal of streamlining and standardizing the planning approval process and infrastructure delivery by lessening regulatory barriers. The Province's Technical Brief on Bill 60 is available here, and you can find our bulletin on the proposed amendments to the Construction Act here.

Bill 60 proposes to expand on amendments introduced in Bill 17, the Protect Ontario by Building Faster and Smarter Act, 2025 ("Bill 17"), to generate economic growth and faster home construction by streamlining planning approval and limiting development barriers. Our past bulletin on Bill 17 can be viewed here.

Most of the changes under Bill 60 are intended to come into force upon Bill 60 receiving Royal Assent. As of the date of this bulletin, Bill 60 remains in second reading and concurrently remains open for public consultation on the Environmental Registry of Ontario (the "ERO") in respect of its various amendments. The proposed amendments to the Planning Act (available here) and Transit Oriented Communities Act (available here) remain open for public comments on the ERO until November 22, 2025 (although the Province could elect to pass Bill 60 prior to this deadline).

Planning Act

• Provincial Policy Statement Exemption: Under Bill 60, decisions of the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing (the "Minister") will no longer be required to be consistent with provincial policy statements under section 3 of the Planning Act, so long as the decision or part of the decision does not apply to lands within the Greenbelt. This change would function retroactively (effectively "blessing" any past Ministerial decisions that may have been inconsistent with provincial policy statements).
• As-of-right Variances: The Minister will have authority to issue regulations that permit "as-of-right" variances to minimum or maximum zoning requirements up to prescribed percentages (such as height, as identified in the Province's technical brief). Facilitating transition, despite any subsequent changes to a minimum or maximum standard as a result of any changes to a percentage, the standard shall be determined in accordance with the following: (a) where permits are already issued under the Building Code Act, the applicable standard is the minimum or maximum standard on the day of permit issuance, (b) in all other cases the applicable standard is the minimum or maximum standard on the day the lawful use of the building, structure, or parcel of land was established. This will not apply to minimum setback distances, which were modified through Bill 17.
• Ministerial Zoning Orders: In keeping with the theme of streamlining, Bill 60 aims to simplify and expedite the process for obtaining a ministerial zoning order ("MZO") to help prioritize long-term care, housing, and transit-oriented communities. Under the proposed amendments, MZOs would become non-regulatory orders to be published on the Ontario Government's website, rather than regulations subject to the Planning Act as they currently are. In addition, municipalities would be able to delegate authority to municipal staff to enter agreements which municipalities are required to enter into relating to MZOs. The Minister's written direction to the parties may specify timelines for entering into such an agreement and for the resolution of matters required by such an agreement. Further, if the Minister is of the opinion that any part of an agreement entered into by a landowner has not been satisfied, the Minister may make an order (a) deeming the relevant terms or conditions of the agreement to be satisfied or to be of no force and effect, or (b) requiring the owner or the municipality to make a motion for directions to have the Ontario Land Tribunal determine the dispute (which determination is not appealable or subject to review).
• Protected Major Transit Station Areas ("PMTSAs"): Bill 60 seeks to eliminate the need for the Minister's approval where official plan amendments are solely amending policies that identify the authorized use of land, structures, and buildings in protected major transit station areas, and where residential use would be authorized on all land subject to the amendment that is within the PMTSA.
• Community Improvement Plan: Bill 60 aims to reduce barriers and allow more flexibility in the use of Community Improvement Plans ("CIP") in upper-tier municipalities, including restoring CIPs designated by upper-tier municipalities without planning authority that were previously cancelled as a result of the municipality's designation as a municipality "without planning responsibility". Upper-tier and lower-tier municipalities will be permitted to make grants or loans to the related lower or upper-tier municipal council for the purposes of carrying out a CIP now even where the official plan of the granting municipality does not contain such permissive provisions.

Development Charges Act, 1997

• Minister Oversight: Bill 60 would empower the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to require municipalities to provide the Minister with the municipality's development charge by-law, background study, and local service policy by a specified deadline.
• New Land Acquisition Costs: A land acquisition capital costs category would be created by Bill 60 for development charge by-laws that impose development charges in respect of capital costs for acquiring land. Estimates regarding an increase in land acquisition costs can only include increases within the 10-year period after the development charges background study is completed, subject to limited exceptions.
• Local Service Policies and Ministerial Oversight: For municipalities to continue enforcing requirements for the provision of local services through conditions of plan of subdivision approval or consent for severance, they will be required to create a local service policy outlining the requirement. Municipalities may also be required to create formal local service policies and review them periodically to identify the services that will be delivered in different areas. The service may be subject to development charges, unless excluded in the local service policy. Municipalities would be required to create these policies within 18 months of the amendments coming into force, being the date of Bill 60's Royal Assent.

Transit-Oriented Communities Act, 2020

• Advisory Panel: A new section would empower the Minister of Infrastructure to create a "Transit-Oriented Communities Advisory Panel" which would make recommendations on transit-oriented community projects and infrastructure, and have other functions as decided by the Minister.
• Mandatory Agreements: The Minister will have power to issue an order for landowners of designated transit-oriented community lands to enter an agreement with a municipality regarding matters that the Minister deems necessary for the appropriate development of the land.

Further matters are under consideration by the Province, as set out in the News Release and Technical Briefing (linked above), including a section-by-section review of the Building Code. Also, a number of postings on the ERO signal potential upcoming change, including:

• Simplifying and standardizing official plans
• Enhanced development standards – lot level (outside of buildings)
• Minimum lot sizes (potential reduction or removal of minimum lot size requirements in low-density residential areas)

Similar to the ERO postings for the Planning Act and Transit-Oriented Communities Act noted above, the consultation for each posting is open only for a brief window of 30 days, with the comment periods all closing November 22, 2025 (although the Province could elect to pass the Bill prior to closing of the comment period).

Conclusion

The potential impact of Bill 60, if passed in its current form, has yet to be determined and the Planning Act and its processes continue to be subject to frequent changes. It will be interesting to see to what extent Ministerial decisions will depart from provincial policy statements and how the Bill 60 changes may impact the need for applications to Committees of Adjustment.

On one hand it appears the Bill 60 changes could give rise to additional work for municipalities to respond to the new planning requirements while, on the other hand, the changes could result in increased efficiencies as as-of-right permissions expand and less layers of review characterize intensification around PMTSAs.

Bill 60 is the latest in the Province's efforts to respond to changes in the land use planning industry, and in many ways it responds to prior legislative changes while also pointing to future changes. McMillan will continue to monitor the status and future amendments of Bill 60 through the Legislature's second reading, as well as other major changes in the land use planning industry. If you have any question regarding the proposed amendments as they relate to the future of Ontario's planning and development or how to navigate the planning and municipal processes, please contact Annik Forristal, Marc Kemerer, Christie Gibson, Kailey Sutton or Patrick Pinho, and our team would be pleased to discuss these proposed changes and their potential impacts on you.

The foregoing provides only an overview and does not constitute legal advice. Readers are cautioned against making any decisions based on this material alone. Rather, specific legal advice should be obtained.

© McMillan LLP 2025