New laws aim to boost construction in Ontario

Key Takeaways:

• The proposed Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, 2025 aims to speed up housing, road, and infrastructure projects by streamlining approvals, standardizing processes, and cutting regulatory red tape across municipalities.
• Key measures include a review of the Ontario Building Code, standardized municipal road construction specifications, a new public corporation for Peel Region’s water and wastewater services, and reforms to improve efficiency at the Landlord and Tenant Board.
• Additional changes would ease septic approvals on farms, remove Toronto’s green roof requirements, and prohibit municipalities from reducing vehicle lanes for new bike lanes, all intended to lower costs and accelerate construction.

The Whole Story:

The Ontario government introduced the Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, 2025 on Thursday, proposing measures to accelerate approvals for homes, roads and infrastructure while reducing regulatory burdens across the construction sector.

The legislation, if passed, would streamline site plan control processes, undertake a section-by-section review of the Ontario Building Code, standardize municipal road construction specifications and establish a new public corporation model for water and wastewater services in Peel Region, the government said in a news release.

“Our government is building a more prosperous, resilient and competitive economy by fighting costly delays and regulatory burdens that slow the delivery of homes, roads and infrastructure that communities need,” said Rob Flack, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. “With tariffs and economic uncertainty taking aim at our economy, we’re working with municipal leaders and homebuilders to get shovels in the ground faster so we can build more homes and keep workers on the job.”

The proposed legislation addresses multiple sectors. For residential construction, it would reduce barriers by streamlining approvals and site plan control ahead of the spring building season. The province is standardizing site plan control requirements to lower costs and create consistent standards across municipalities.

For road construction, the bill proposes common specifications across all municipalities to cut red tape and accelerate project delivery. The legislation also prohibits municipalities from reducing vehicle lanes when installing new bicycle lanes.

Water and wastewater infrastructure in Peel Region—which serves 1.6 million residents and manages assets valued at over $40 billion—would be delivered through a new public corporation model for Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon to speed up decision-making.

The Landlord and Tenant Board would see process improvements aimed at reducing delays and backlogs. The government said the measures would limit abuse of the system and balance landlord and tenant rights to encourage rental housing supply. Ontario invested $6.5 million in 2023-24 to hire additional adjudicators; the board has since reduced its caseload by 33 per cent since December 2023.

Additional measures include streamlining septic system approvals on farm properties to accelerate housing for seasonal agricultural workers, and removing Toronto’s green roof requirements to lower construction costs.

“In the face of economic uncertainties, we are speeding up approvals for housing and infrastructure projects, ensuring construction moves forward quickly while safeguarding public health and the environment,” said Todd McCarthy, Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks and Acting Minister of Infrastructure.

Industry groups welcomed the announcement.

“This legislation reflects a growing partnership between government and industry — one rooted in the shared goal of building more homes, faster,” said Scott Andison, CEO of the Ontario Home Builders’ Association.