Changes On The Horizon: Bill 60, Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, 2025 – Real Estate – Canada
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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:
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
