The Ontario government has introduced the Protect Ontario by Building Faster and Smarter Act, 2025 to help speed up the construction of new homes and infrastructure, including by streamlining development processes and reducing costs in close partnership with municipalities. The province is also increasing its investment in housing-enabling infrastructure by adding $400 million in immediate funding to the Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund (HEWSF) and Municipal Housing Infrastructure Fund (MHIP) for a total of nearly $2.3 billion over four years across the HEWSF and the MHIP.

“We are taking bold action to protect Ontario in the face of economic uncertainty by speeding up construction so we can lower housing costs and keep workers on the job,” says Rob Flack, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. “The legislation responds to recommendations and requests from municipal leaders, and will help build the homes and infrastructure Ontario needs.”

The Protect Ontario by Building Faster and Smarter Act, 2025, if passed, and related actions would:

• Spur new construction by simplifying and standardizing development charges based on measures that were developed in consultation with municipalities, including measures that some municipalities have already implemented. Ontario will work with municipalities to continue simplifying, streamlining and reducing costly local development fees that can add hundreds of thousands of dollars to the cost of new homes.
• Remove barriers for Canadian manufacturers who want to introduce innovative materials, systems and building designs that could reduce construction costs and expedite projects.
• Streamline and improve planning and delivery for transit-oriented communities, creating more jobs and housing options near transit.
• Reduce costs and speed up project approvals with consistent building construction standards across Ontario municipalities.
• Significantly speed up getting shovels in the ground to build major transit projects by extending measures in the Building Transit Faster Act, 2020 to all provincial transit projects.
• Simplify, streamline and bring consistency and transparency to development applications, land use planning approvals, and contents of municipal official plans. These changes would make it easier and faster to build residential, commercial and industrial buildings within and across Ontario’s municipalities.
• Ontario’s road building standards can differ across the province’s 444 municipalities, causing unnecessary cost and delays. The province will consult with municipalities and stakeholders by fall 2025 on framework legislation for greater harmonization and clarified governance of municipal standards, which will lead to cost savings through more efficient design and technical review, greater construction efficiencies and streamlined procurement processes.

Through HEWSF, the province has already allocated nearly $1.3 billion for water and waste-water infrastructure projects that will enable the construction of approximately 600,000 homes. Ontario has also invested approximately $700 million in MHIP. Combined with the new $400 million ($315 million for HEWSF and $85 million for MHIP) this brings the new total investment to nearly $2.3 billion.

“I applaud Premier Ford, Minister Flack, and the government of Ontario for taking bold and creative action to address the housing crisis,” says Steven Del Duca, Mayor for the City of Vaughan. “The status quo simply isn’t working, and families across Ontario – including mine – deserve to see real change. I want my kids to have the opportunity to own a home in the city where they grew up. In Vaughan, we’re doing our part by reducing development charges by 50 per cent and using every tool available to get more homes built, faster. I welcome the province’s leadership in cutting red tape, standardizing approvals, and building a more efficient, affordable future for all Ontarians.”

“I’m grateful for the province’s leadership in introducing these much-needed measures to address the housing crisis,” adds Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish. “Municipalities cannot tackle this challenge alone – we need support like this to cut red tape, streamline approvals and create the conditions for faster, more affordable housing development. Mississauga’s Housing Task Force has demonstrated that bold reforms and innovative policies can drive real progress, and these provincial measures will encourage cities across Ontario to accelerate their own housing initiatives. This kind of collaboration across all levels of government is critical to meeting the urgent housing needs of our residents and building a more sustainable future for residents all over Ontario.”

UNIVERSAL SUPPORT FROM INDUSTRY

For their part, housing industry associations universally applaud the announcement.

The Ontario Home Builders’ Association (OHBA) says it is optimistic about the provincial government’s proposed legislation, welcoming the government’s crisis-led approach to tackling Ontario’s housing shortage.

“We need all hands on deck to tackle the housing crisis, and I’m happy to know that Minister Flack understands that and sees value in having industry be part of the conversation,” says OHBA CEO Scott Andison. “This legislation is a strong step towards boosting supply, restoring affordability, and protecting jobs in the residential construction sector.”

In particular, the bill aims to stimulate new home construction by implementing policies developed with municipalities to standardize development charges. Currently, government fees and taxes account for roughly 30 to 35 per cent of the cost of a new home, making the government at different levels the biggest financial beneficiary of a new home purchase. Development charges account for about half of that cost and have increased dramatically over the last decade. The Greater Toronto Area has the highest development charges in North America, which have risen 176 per cent since 2011, continuing to rise while we face the worst housing crisis the province has ever seen. Builders have long called for provincial action to reduce them and are happy to have been represented in the discussions that led to this legislation.

In the GTA specifically, the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) also applauds the proposed legislation as a significant step towards addressing the current cost-to-build challenge, which has been hindering housing starts.

“In this period of economic and tariff uncertainty, prioritizing housing is both a strategic imperative and a socio-economic imperative,” says Dave Wilkes, president and CEO of BILD. “(The) proposed legislation provides a much-needed focus on homes in a region facing a housing deficit and affordability challenges, while also protecting Canadian jobs and stimulating the economy. In the Greater Toronto Area, 100 per cent of the labour and 90 per cent of the materials used to build housing are Canadian.

“As the market-based costs of production factors adjust, those costs imposed by governments must follow suit. We need strong leadership to get shovels in the ground and turn around the unprecedented downturn the industry is currently facing which has sales in the Toronto CMA at just 15 per cent of the 10-year average and housing starts down nearly 60 per cent,” adds Wilkes. “This sharp decline is putting jobs at risk, slowing industry activity and jeopardizing the housing supply for 2027 and beyond. We applaud the leadership the province has taken by introducing these bold initiatives which will remove red tape, speed up housing supply and streamline development charges to improve the financial viability of new housing projects and deliver more homes in the GTA.”

The Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON) commends the province for introducing legislation that will cut red tape, streamline approvals and tackle other issues that add to the cost of a new home, as it will spur more building.

“In light of the dire housing supply and affordability crisis that we are facing, the proposed legislative changes are critical to eliminating hurdles and reducing costs so that the residential construction industry can get back on track and build the housing that Ontario needs,” says RESCON president Richard Lyall.

“At a time when there are so many challenges facing the residential construction industry, these changes are necessary and essential as they will simplify the approvals process and make the homebuilding process more efficient,” says Lyall. “The housing affordability and supply crisis is the most intense challenge facing the homebuilding sector in decades and nothing short of significant and collaborative effort can assist in turning this situation around. (This) announcement (is) a major step towards implementing the required solutions.”