Spring Showers Bring More Powers – Bill 17, Protect Ontario by Building Faster and Smarter Act, 2025

On May 12, 2025, the Province of Ontario (the “Province”) introduced Bill 17, the Protect Ontario by Building Faster and Smarter Act, 2025 (“Bill 17”).

Bill 17 proposes amendments to multiple statutes, including, most notably, the Development Charges Act, 1997 and the Planning Act, that are intended to support the Province’s ongoing efforts to reduce costs and remove unnecessary barriers to building homes in Ontario.

Below is a summary of key amendments in Bill 17.

Development Charges Act, 1997

Bill 17 proposes various amendments to the Development Charges Act, 1997 methodology and framework to improve standardization, predictability, and transparency in how development charges (“DC”) are calculated, applied, and captured across municipalities.

The proposed amendments include:

• New regulation-making authority to:
  
  • Merge related service categories for the purpose of DC credits, allowing developers to receive credit for work that they perform over a broader range of categories;
    
  • Define local services to distinguish between services captured under local service infrastructure policies and infrastructure services captured by DCs to minimize disputes between developers and municipalities;
    
  • Prescribe limits and exceptions to eligible capital costs, including land costs; and
    
  • Require that municipalities spend or allocate at least 60% of their DC reserve funds annually for all DC services and allow consultation from the Province on how to improve public reporting of DC information;
• Allowing builders to defer payment of DCs for residential development from the time of building permit issuance until building occupancy;
• Removing interest on any deferred payment of DCs for rental and institutional developments;
• Enabling municipalities to implement DC exemption or discount programs without the requirement to complete a new background study or to satisfy certain procedural requirements;
• Allowing the Province to prescribe methodologies for calculating the benefit of new infrastructure to existing development, providing homebuilders with better clarity and cost certainty;
• Permanently eliminating DCs for long-term care homes; and
• Stipulating that developments receive the lesser of a frozen DC rate at the time a site plan application or zoning application is made, or the in-force DC rate (e.g. if the rates have been reduced during the freeze period).
  

Most of the amendments to the Development Charges Act, 1997 proposed under Bill 17 will require accompanying regulations to implement the changes.

Planning Act

Bill 17 proposes several noteworthy amendments to the Planning Act, including:

• A new provision requiring the Minister’s written approval for any official plan amendment that would change the information or material (including studies) applicants must provide for a “complete” planning application. Any official pan amendment made on or after May 12, 2025, without the Minister’s approval is deemed not to have been adopted (i.e. voided);
  
• Requiring municipalities to accept, without response, information or material (including studies) prepared by a person authorized to practice a prescribed profession. The list of prescribed professions will be outlined in a future regulation;
  
• Providing the Province with regulation-making powers to limit the studies a municipality can require as part of a complete application for different applications. Currently, the Province is proposing that municipalities be prohibited from requiring the following studies/reports: sun/shadow studies, wind studies, urban design studies, and lighting studies;
  
• Amendments to the Minister’s Inclusionary Zoning Regulation (O.Reg. 232/18), capping mandatory affordable units at 5% and imposing a 25-year maximum affordability period within protected major transit station areas;
  
• A new regulation-making power to allow reductions for setback requirements of up to 10% without the need for a minor variance provided the land is within an urban residential land;
  
• Providing the Minister with the authority to impose preconditions requiring satisfaction prior to a Minister’s Zoning Order coming into effect. These conditions can be imposed on both the municipality and/or proponents, helping to improve accountability and ensuring projects meet the Province’s objectives;
  
• Exempting the placement of portable classrooms on school sites from site plan control; and
  
• Confirming that municipal zoning by-laws cannot prohibit the use of a parcel of urban residential land for publicly funded schools (kindergarten to grade 12) and associated childcare.

Corresponding amendments are proposed to the City of Toronto Act, 2006 to effect the changes noted above where applicable.

Building Code Act, 1992

Bill 17 proposes to add a new subsection 35(1.1) to the Building Code Act, 1992 clarifying that a municipality’s by-law making powers under the Municipal Act, 2001 and the City of Toronto Act do not include the authority to pass by-laws respecting the construction and demolition of buildings requiring their own unique standards beyond the provincial standards outlined in the Building Code (e.g. green building standards). This amendment will help standardize construction requirements across Ontario and will prevent developers from having to re-design their products and designs from one jurisdiction to another.  

Bill 17 also proposes new provisions in the Building Code Act, 1992 that are intended to eliminate the need for a secondary provincial approval for innovative construction products approved by the Canadian Construction Materials Centre. This change will enable manufacturers of innovative construction products to save fees and access the Ontario market approximately 90 days sooner.

Transit-Oriented Communities Act, 2020 and Building Transit Faster Act

The Transit-Oriented Communities Act, 2020 enables the Province to fast-track development projects in connection with the construction or operation of a “priority transit project”.

Bill 17 proposes to amend the Transit-Oriented Communities Act, 2020 to expand the definition of “priority transit project” to include all provincial transit projects. Bill 17 also proposes to shift responsibility under the Transit-Oriented Communities Act, 2020 from the Minister of Transportation to the Minister of Infrastructure to better align with the transit-oriented communities program.

The requirement for an Order in Council is proposed to be removed in certain provisions of the Transit-Oriented Communities Act, 2020 to further accelerate the creation of transit-oriented communities. Corresponding amendments are proposed to the Building Transit Faster Act to expand the application of the Act to all provincial transit projects.

Metrolinx Act, 2006 and Ministry of Infrastructure Act, 2011

Bill 17 proposes amendments to the Metrolinx Act, 2006 which will provide the Minister of Transportation with authority to direct municipalities and municipal agencies to provide the Minister with information and data required to support provincial transit projects or transit-oriented communities projects.

The stated intent of these amendments is to facilitate faster transit project delivery in the Province. Similar powers are proposed to be granted to the Minister of Infrastructure under the Ministry of Infrastructure Act, 2011, with the intent to accelerate government infrastructure projects.

Next Steps

Bill 17 is now headed to second reading in the Legislature and remains subject to further debate, amendment, and approval before Royal Assent. The Province is seeking feedback on proposed legislative amendments to the Planning Act and the City of Toronto Act, 2006, through Bill 17 and related regulatory changes.

The consultation period will remain open until June 11, 2025. Interested parties can submit comments through the Environmental Registry of Ontario.

For more detailed information, you can review the full text of Bill 17 on the Province’s website.  

Final Thoughts

Loopstra Nixon LLP’s Municipal, Land Use Planning and Development Group continues to be engaged in all aspects of municipal, land use planning and development law and will provide further updates on Bill 17 as they are released. If you have any questions regarding how these changes may impact you or your organization, please do not hesitate to contact a member of our team. 

Disclaimer

The information provided above serves as a high-level summary and does not constitute legal advice.