Latest news with #OntariobyBuildingFasterandSmarterAct
Canada Standard
29-05-2025
- Politics
- Canada Standard
Ontario Legislation Could Override Local Green Standards, Stall Climate Progress
A new Ontario bill could set back green building efforts and mark "the beginning of the end of urban planning" in the province, gutting city-led climate policies as extreme weather risks are rising, warn critics. Bill 17, the proposed Protect Ontario by Building Faster and Smarter Act, would override bylaws like Toronto's Green Standard by "clarifying" that municipalities do not have jurisdiction to set green construction standards. Climate advocates say the measure would stall progress on municipal climate goals while burdening homeowners with higher energy and retrofit costs down the line. The Doug Ford government says the bill will bring regulatory consistency across Ontario, speed up construction, and reduce housing costs. But the provincial building code lacks many of the green features cities like Toronto require, writes The Canadian Press. The Toronto Green Standard, for example, mandates stormwater retention features to reduce flood risk during heavy rainfall, minimum tree canopy coverage to combat extreme heat, and electric vehicle charging infrastructure in new residential parking spaces. The Ford government eliminated that last requirement from its own code shortly after coming to power. The bill follows a legal challenge filed last year by the Residential Construction Council of Ontario-an association of builders-to block Toronto from enforcing standards beyond those set out in the Ontario Building Code. The council was incensed by Toronto's green standards, which aim to improve air quality, transportation, energy usage, water efficiency, and waste diversion with a checklist of requirements for developers of new buildings, reports The Trillium. "These include everything from bicycle parking and pedestrian walkways to energy efficiency targets, trash compaction guidelines, and tree-planting quotas." View our latest digests Bill 17 will gut green building standards implemented in several other cities across Ontario, warn environmental advocates. The bill as it is now written will "set back green building efforts by 15 years," said Bryan Purcell, vice-president of policy and programs at The Atmospheric Fund (TAF), citing the period of time the Toronto Green Standard has been in place. "As buildings are the largest source of carbon emissions in most cities, it would make it impossible for cities to reach their climate targets," Purcell told The Energy Mix . The bill could lock nearly all new buildings into using gas as a primary fuel source, which would saddle home and building owners with higher energy costs while undercutting the economics of green building technology and services. "And it would create huge costs down the road, as retrofitting buildings to get off gas or enable electric vehicle charging is five to 10 times more expensive than building it right to begin with," he added. Other environmental organizations have also warned against the bill. In one recent post, the Toronto Environmental Alliance said the legislation would completely undermine municipal planning authority, leaving cities with few tools to adapt regulations to local conditions. Environmental Defence says the bill claims to address construction challenges, but focuses on "scapegoating municipal policies" instead of fixing the root issues-namely, provincial restrictions against mid-rise developments, which have caused a shortage of family-sized homes. "McMansion" rebuilds and sprawl are further problems, it adds. The Ontario government says its action to block municipal building bylaws is only a "clarification" to existing legislation-in particular, Section 8 of the Building Code Act , the legal foundation of the province's building code-which regulates how building permits are issued. But TAF argues that a city has the right to set green building standards unless they conflict with provincial rules. Purcell points to section 35(1), which he says "is generally interpreted to mean that if a building code requirement actively conflicts with a municipal bylaw, then the building code requirement takes precedence." That section authorizes local municipalities to pass bylaws "respecting the protection or conservation of the environment" in accordance with the provincial codes. A later subsection even specifies that 35(1) gives municipalities power to require green roofs on buildings, but does not address other green standards. By not stating the specific role of municipalities in setting building codes, the Building Code Act creates a grey area that could be interpreted to align with Purcell's reading. But it could also support the government's interpretation. Section 8 states that a building official must issue a permit for a building that meets the requirements of the Building Code Act except in a few prescribed circumstances. The list of exceptions does not include a carve-out for buildings that fail to meet municipal requirements. Municipalities are also considered "creatures of the provinces," and have "no constitutional protection whatsoever against provincial laws that change their structures, functions, and financial resources without their consent," writes the Centre for Excellence on the Canadian Federation. The wider concern is that Bill 17 will amount to a dramatic shift in authority for cities, and not just to manage their building regulations and address climate change. Purcell warns that Bill 17 would "be the beginning of the end of urban planning in Ontario" by instigating legal challenges to existing bylaws across the province, beyond the green building standards. "It could create a wild west type of development environment, where anything can be built anywhere and consultants working for developers approve their own submissions." Source: The Energy Mix
Toronto Star
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Toronto Star
Ford government move could see environmental home requirements sacrificed in the name of building faster, cheaper
Toronto and other municipalities are parsing the Ford government's new homebuilding rules to figure out what, if any, local efforts to curb climate change and make communities weather-resilient will survive the legislation. The Protect Ontario by Building Faster and Smarter Act is highlighting tensions between efforts to address two huge crises — the affordable housing shortage that has people living in overpriced, substandard housing or fleeing Ontario, and climate change, the intense consequences of which, such as increased flooding and deadly heatwaves, are only expected to intensify. Premier Doug Ford's government says municipalities will lose the power to impose requirements upon developers beyond those in the provincial building code. That has triggered confusion and conflicting opinions over what happens to so-called green standards long imposed on builders by Toronto and emulated by several other cities. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW 'Clear as mud,' Whitby Mayor Elizabeth Roy said of the provision nonetheless being hailed by developers as victory in their political and legal battle to erase a provincial patchwork of requirements, such as new homes having roughed-in wiring for electric vehicles, and large sites having landscaping to reduce flooding and heat buildup, that they blame for construction costs and delays. 'The devil in the details isn't there yet,' Roy told the Star, adding that regulations for Bill 17, when released, should help Whitby and other local governments figure out the fate of requirements, such as having trees on boulevards, that triggered early 'hiccups' but now rarely generate any complaints from homebuilders. Necessary efforts to increase housing supply, Roy said, don't erase the 'absolutely harm for our future,' if builders can erect new subdivisions without measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and make homes, roads and other infrastructure more resilient. What is Bill 17? Bill 17, crafted with input from municipalities and developers, aims to fast-track home, road and transit construction with more than 20 changes. They include standardizing the development fees that help municipalities pay for sewers, libraries and other services for the added residents, and ensuring that builders pay those fees when units are occupied rather than upfront during the permit process. Toronto's green standard was introduced in 2006 as voluntary, environmentally friendly building guidelines. Mandatory requirements were added in updates between 2010 and 2022, along with financial incentives for builders who take extra steps that later become required. Required measures now on the block include bicycle parking at new multi-residential buildings, limits on hard surfaces to minimize stormwater runoff, highrise design that allows tenants to recycle rather than put everything in trash, and window glazing on a share of lower-floor windows to minimize strikes that kill birds. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Viewed by the city as a success essential to its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2040, the standards and incentives have been replicated, in various forms and stages of development, by other communities, including Mississauga and Caledon. Asked about Bill 17's impact, Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow told reporters that 'at first blush it seems like the legislation won't allow anything more than what is in the building code.' She added, though, that city staff are analyzing the legislation and will report their findings to her executive committee next month. Provincial Politics With Ontario's housing starts sliding, Doug Ford insists, 'We're doing everything we can' 'We're doing everything we can,' the premier said, a day after his government's spring 'We're hoping that we can continue to encourage and mandate (developers to build) as energy efficient as possible so that homeowners can burn less (fuel) and pay less,' Chow said. 'That's critically important because we do have a climate crisis.' Two independent sources familiar with city staff's ongoing analysis, but not authorized to speak publicly about it, told the Star there is hope that, depending on the regulations and any amendments made before Bill 17 becomes law, some or even most of Toronto's green building initiatives can survive. The sources could offer no details but noted that Toronto has powers and obligations through other legislation, including the City of Toronto Act and the Planning Act, that can be seen as separate from Ontario building code requirements. Developers take aim at cities The survival of mandatory green rules, however, is not the expectation, nor the desire, of the Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON), which represents developers of residential buildings. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW RESCON late last year launched a challenge against the City of Toronto, arguing it doesn't have jurisdiction to exceed Ontario's building code, urging a court to strike down the green standard. Association president Richard Lyall told the Star that he reads the province's intention with Bill 17 as doing just that, and said that if the legislation forces Toronto to stick to requirements on developers in the provincial code, RESCON will drop its court challenge. 'We're not anti-green,' Lyall said. 'We do have a housing crisis, it's very real and very complicated, and outside of Vancouver we've got one of the greenest building jurisdictions in North America,' he said, urging municipalities to focus on proposals to strengthen provisions in the provincial building code rather than their own standards. 'Our costs are ridiculously high and supply is plummeting. Toronto can have a voluntary green standard — but not a mandatory one.' Bill 17 was strongly praised by an association representing more than 400 Ontario municipalities as well as several individual mayors, with much of their focus on the commitment to standardize, rather than eliminate, development charges imposed on builders. The province accepted a joint submission on development charges from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and the Ontario Homebuilders Association that prevents the drastic reduction in municipal revenues dictated by earlier provincial housing reforms. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Some of the supportive mayors are now reckoning with Bill 17's potential impacts on their cities' environmental building requirements. Provincial Politics Ford government denies bill to speed up development will override environmental and Indigenous concerns Premier Doug Ford has said Bill 5 is needed to speed up much-needed investments and projects Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish said in an email that 'green development standards have value in helping municipalities meet climate change objectives but can have unintended impacts on housing supply and affordability.' Her housing task force is investigating changes to the green standards to expedite approvals and provide incentives while city staff work through Bill 17's implications, Parrish said. She added that, while a lack of provincewide standards can increase complexity and cost to a project, 'we would not support complete removal of the (green development standard) initiatives.' Ontario building code 'slow' to adopt green initiatives The Atmospheric Fund, a not-for-profit group focused on helping GTA-Hamilton communities reach net zero goals, rejects arguments that environmental requirements must be scrapped to build homes faster and cheaper. Bryan Purcell, the fund's vice-president of policy and programs, noted that Toronto has exceeded housing targets even as 96 per cent of new residential developments were subject to the green standard. Cancelling requirements increases and transfers long-term costs, such as making homes more fuel-efficient or capable of electric vehicle charging, from developers to homeowners, he said. Some Bill 17 initiatives have merit, such as streamlining approvals for new construction materials, Purcell said, but 'we are concerned that the legislation as drafted will constrain cities ability to implement green development standards and address other community priorities...' ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW While developers say new green requirements should be imposed provincewide through Ontario's building code, Bill 17 includes no proposal to do that. A University of Toronto expert on building science says that relying on the Ford government to impose green rules on new homes might not be sufficient. 'The problem is that the (Ontario) building code is very, very slow to adopt some of the climate resilience requirements that are being recommended and that have been adopted in other jurisdictions,' said Prof. Ted Kesik. 'Ontario has been quite reticent in keeping up with those, and that's why I think the municipalities have gone ahead and done their own thing.' With files from Mahdis Habibinia
Hamilton Spectator
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Hamilton Spectator
Ford government move could see environmental home requirements sacrificed in the name of building faster, cheaper
Toronto and other municipalities are parsing the Ford government's new homebuilding rules to figure out what, if any, local efforts to curb climate change and make communities weather-resilient will survive the legislation. The Protect Ontario by Building Faster and Smarter Act is highlighting tensions between efforts to address two huge crises — the affordable housing shortage that has people living in overpriced, substandard housing or fleeing Ontario, and climate change , the intense consequences of which, such as increased flooding and deadly heatwaves , are only expected to intensify. Premier Doug Ford's government says municipalities will lose the power to impose requirements upon developers beyond those in the provincial building code. That has triggered confusion and conflicting opinions over what happens to so-called green standards long imposed on builders by Toronto and emulated by several other cities. 'Clear as mud,' Whitby Mayor Elizabeth Roy said of the provision nonetheless being hailed by developers as victory in their political and legal battle to erase a provincial patchwork of requirements, such as new homes having roughed-in wiring for electric vehicles, and large sites having landscaping to reduce flooding and heat buildup, that they blame for construction costs and delays. 'The devil in the details isn't there yet,' Roy told the Star, adding that regulations for Bill 17, when released, should help Whitby and other local governments figure out the fate of requirements, such as having trees on boulevards, that triggered early 'hiccups' but now rarely generate any complaints from homebuilders. Necessary efforts to increase housing supply, Roy said, don't erase the 'absolutely harm for our future,' if builders can erect new subdivisions without measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and make homes, roads and other infrastructure more resilient. Bill 17, crafted with input from municipalities and developers, aims to fast-track home, road and transit construction with more than 20 changes. They include standardizing the development fees that help municipalities pay for sewers, libraries and other services for the added residents, and ensuring that builders pay those fees when units are occupied rather than upfront during the permit process. Toronto's green standard was introduced in 2006 as voluntary, environmentally friendly building guidelines. Mandatory requirements were added in updates between 2010 and 2022, along with financial incentives for builders who take extra steps that later become required. Required measures now on the block include bicycle parking at new multi-residential buildings, limits on hard surfaces to minimize stormwater runoff, highrise design that allows tenants to recycle rather than put everything in trash, and window glazing on a share of lower-floor windows to minimize strikes that kill birds. Viewed by the city as a success essential to its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2040, the standards and incentives have been replicated, in various forms and stages of development, by other communities, including Mississauga and Caledon. Asked about Bill 17's impact, Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow told reporters that 'at first blush it seems like the legislation won't allow anything more than what is in the building code.' She added, though, that city staff are analyzing the legislation and will report their findings to her executive committee next month. 'We're doing everything we can,' the premier said, a day after his government's spring 'We're hoping that we can continue to encourage and mandate (developers to build) as energy efficient as possible so that homeowners can burn less (fuel) and pay less,' Chow said. 'That's critically important because we do have a climate crisis.' Two independent sources familiar with city staff's ongoing analysis, but not authorized to speak publicly about it, told the Star there is hope that, depending on the regulations and any amendments made before Bill 17 becomes law, some or even most of Toronto's green building initiatives can survive. The sources could offer no details but noted that Toronto has powers and obligations through other legislation, including the City of Toronto Act and the Planning Act, that can be seen as separate from Ontario building code requirements. The survival of mandatory green rules, however, is not the expectation, nor the desire, of the Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON), which represents developers of residential buildings. RESCON late last year launched a challenge against the City of Toronto , arguing it doesn't have jurisdiction to exceed Ontario's building code, urging a court to strike down the green standard. Association president Richard Lyall told the Star that he reads the province's intention with Bill 17 as doing just that, and said that if the legislation forces Toronto to stick to requirements on developers in the provincial code, RESCON will drop its court challenge. 'We're not anti-green,' Lyall said. 'We do have a housing crisis, it's very real and very complicated, and outside of Vancouver we've got one of the greenest building jurisdictions in North America,' he said, urging municipalities to focus on proposals to strengthen provisions in the provincial building code rather than their own standards. 'Our costs are ridiculously high and supply is plummeting. Toronto can have a voluntary green standard — but not a mandatory one.' Bill 17 was strongly praised by an association representing more than 400 Ontario municipalities as well as several individual mayors, with much of their focus on the commitment to standardize, rather than eliminate, development charges imposed on builders. The province accepted a joint submission on development charges from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and the Ontario Homebuilders Association that prevents the drastic reduction in municipal revenues dictated by earlier provincial housing reforms . Some of the supportive mayors are now reckoning with Bill 17's potential impacts on their cities' environmental building requirements. Premier Doug Ford has said Bill 5 is needed to speed up much-needed investments and projects Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish said in an email that 'green development standards have value in helping municipalities meet climate change objectives but can have unintended impacts on housing supply and affordability.' Her housing task force is investigating changes to the green standards to expedite approvals and provide incentives while city staff work through Bill 17's implications, Parrish said. She added that, while a lack of provincewide standards can increase complexity and cost to a project, 'we would not support complete removal of the (green development standard) initiatives.' The Atmospheric Fund, a not-for-profit group focused on helping GTA-Hamilton communities reach net zero goals, rejects arguments that environmental requirements must be scrapped to build homes faster and cheaper. Bryan Purcell, the fund's vice-president of policy and programs, noted that Toronto has exceeded housing targets even as 96 per cent of new residential developments were subject to the green standard. Cancelling requirements increases and transfers long-term costs, such as making homes more fuel-efficient or capable of electric vehicle charging, from developers to homeowners, he said. Some Bill 17 initiatives have merit, such as streamlining approvals for new construction materials, Purcell said, but 'we are concerned that the legislation as drafted will constrain cities ability to implement green development standards and address other community priorities...' While developers say new green requirements should be imposed provincewide through Ontario's building code, Bill 17 includes no proposal to do that. A University of Toronto expert on building science says that relying on the Ford government to impose green rules on new homes might not be sufficient. 'The problem is that the (Ontario) building code is very, very slow to adopt some of the climate resilience requirements that are being recommended and that have been adopted in other jurisdictions,' said Prof. Ted Kesik. 'Ontario has been quite reticent in keeping up with those, and that's why I think the municipalities have gone ahead and done their own thing.'
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ontario's Bill 17 could help housing supply, but affordability will remain an issue
Developers have welcomed Bill 17, the Ontario government's newly proposed legislation that seeks to make building new homes easier — but affordability, a dominant concern in the province, is likely to remain an issue in the years ahead, experts say. Bill 17, or the Protect Ontario by Building Faster and Smarter Act, was announced earlier this week, with measures aiming to accelerate permits and approvals, simplify development charges and fast-track infrastructure projects, especially around transit corridors. The head of real estate development at rental developer Hazelview, Michael Williams, says the bill 'tackles key friction points that have been highlighted that delay purpose-built rental for us,' but adds that nothing will solve Ontario's housing issues all at once. Michael Waters, CEO of developer Minto Group, offers a similar take. 'It's not the silver bullet, it's not going to solve everything, but I think it's a step in the right direction,' he said. Housing affordability has been a hot-button issue in Canada. A major factor driving the problem has been a shortage of supply, with new housing stock failing to keep up with recent population growth. Affordability has been especially bad in Ontario, and the Greater Toronto Area in particular. A report this week from Desjardins Economic Studies found that despite a slight improvement in 2024, 'the benchmark price for all types of housing is highly unaffordable for residents of Ontario.' Bill 17 might help accelerate the addition of housing supply, says Carolyn Whitzman, a senior housing researcher at the University of Toronto School of Cities, but it will do little to help lower-income residents who have been priced out of virtually every market. 'Absolutely there's a need for something, anything to be built, but it needs to be a supply that has some relationship to who needs what housing where, and at what cost,' Whitzman said. 'And I simply haven't seen much evidence that the provincial government understands that in its legislation.' There's actually a lot of uncertainty in those processes, and uncertainty is a killer, from the perspective of allocating or investing Waters, CEO of Minto Group Both Williams and Waters hail Bill 17's measures to standardize processes across municipalities. Williams notes that at present, requirements for planning studies 'change dramatically from municipality to municipality,' requiring adjustments to new frameworks on potentially every submission. Waters calls the current situation around approval processes 'one of the biggest roadblocks or inhibitors for housing supply coming online more quickly. … There's actually a lot of uncertainty in those processes, and uncertainty is a killer, from the perspective of allocating or investing capital.' Additionally, Williams highlights the bill's provisions to fast-track development around transit hubs. 'I think everyone's hyper motivated to build around transit, as municipalities have been somewhat restrictive around existing and future transit nodes and having densified areas,' he said. 'I think that's really good that they address it, but it stands out that they've acknowledged that it's a problem.' The simplifying of development charges would also make a huge difference, Waters says. 'You pay the development charges when you pull the permit, but of course, the project begins months and years and years before, when you acquired the land,' he said. 'And so, accurately forecasting the level of development charges is a challenge, and they won't be levied for years.' Waters and Williams both note other issues not addressed by the bill which could still affect the efficiency and affordability of housing in Ontario, including the ongoing shortage of skilled labour. Waters says approval timelines should also be standardized. "I could give you examples in the city of Toronto where it has taken us over a decade to get an urban redevelopment site rezoned and site plan approved,' he said. 'That does not make sense. It is inconsistent with the state of crisis we have in housing supply." For Whitzman, the chief problem is that the new measures would likely facilitate the supply of housing only 'for the upper middle class and the wealthy.' On the affordability front, she says the Ontario government is ignoring past studies and task forces that offer proven solutions. 'What does work is the Ontario government getting back into financing and supporting and setting targets for non-market housing,' Whitzman said. 'And by non-market housing, I mean public housing, cooperative housing, supportive housing and other forms of housing that are provided by nonprofit organizations.' John MacFarlane is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow him on Twitter @jmacf. Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Cision Canada
14-05-2025
- Business
- Cision Canada
Provincial Construction Associations Applaud Introduction of Protect Ontario by Building Faster and Smarter Act, 2025
MISSISSAUGA, ON, May 14, 2025 /CNW/ - Ontario's Construction Associations strongly support the Government of Ontario's introduction of the Protect Ontario by Building Faster and Smarter Act, 2025 (The Act). This legislation has the potential of accelerating project approvals using consistent construction specifications and standards, which ultimately will create more consistent and competitive bidding for contractors and more cost-effective projects for tax-payers. Ontario will launch consultations in the Fall of 2025 on a legislative framework to harmonize municipal road building standards, with the objective of eliminating avoidable delays and costs on projects. A harmonized framework would unlock significant efficiencies in design, technical review, and procurement—ultimately allowing municipalities to build more for less. Ontario Road Builders' Association (ORBA), Ontario Sewer and Watermain Construction Association (OSWCA), Ontario General Contractors Association (OGCA) and Progressive Contractors Association of Ontario (PCA) have long advocated for modernizing and standardizing Ontario's fragmented construction specifications. By streamlining standards, reducing red tape, and fostering innovation in materials and methods, the Act will accelerate the delivery of essential infrastructure, reduce costs for taxpayers, and improve outcomes for communities across Ontario. The industry commends this step towards greater Transit-oriented communities will benefit from streamlined planning processes, enabling more housing and job opportunities near major transit lines. The Act will also align building construction standards across Ontario municipalities, helping speed up project approvals and create consistency for developers. The industry commends this step towards greater efficiency and consistency in construction and design practices. We remain committed to working collaboratively with all stakeholders and the construction sector as the legislation is a pivotal opportunity to build smarter, faster, and together. About ORBA: The Ontario Road Builders' Association (ORBA) is the voice of the transportation infrastructure sector in Ontario. Our members build provincial and municipal roads, bridges and transportation infrastructure across the province. The road building sector directly and indirectly supports 56,000 workers, and over $5.5Bn in annual GDP impact. To learn more about ORBA, visit About (OSWCA): The Ontario Sewer & Watermain Construction Association (OSWCA) is a not-for-profit organization representing sewer and watermain construction contractors throughout the province of Ontario. It serves as a collective voice for its members in advocating for the interests of the sewer and watermain construction industry. About (OGCA): The Ontario General Contractors Association (OGCA) is a 200-member organization drawing membership from across Ontario. OGCA members account for over $14 billion of construction annually in Ontario, focusing on supplying the infrastructure needed to support our growing communities. OGCA members include small, medium and large General Contracting firms representing both union and open-shop contractors. About (PCA): PCA is a national association of leading construction companies that build major infrastructure and capital projects. Its members employ more than 40,000 unionized construction workers who are represented primarily by CLAC. PCA advocates for a fair, open and competitive construction market. SOURCE Ontario Road Builders Association
