Bill 60, Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, 2025

Summary#

• Bill 60 (Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, 2025) changes many Ontario laws to speed up building, transit delivery, and certain government decisions. It also changes tenant–landlord rules, road use rules, planning powers, and how water and wastewater may be run.

• Key themes: faster transit work, tighter timelines at the Landlord and Tenant Board, limits on reducing car lanes, new powers for provincial planning decisions, updates to development charges, and a new model for water and wastewater services.

• Speeds transit projects and lets Metrolinx access and alter municipal roads and infrastructure needed to build, run, or maintain transit.

• Shortens several notice periods (often from 30 to 15 days) and lets the Minister remove immediate hazards near transit corridors.

• Lets the Minister’s planning orders proceed without needing to match provincial policy statements (except in the Greenbelt), and posts them online.

• Limits cities from reducing marked car lanes for bike lanes (unless regulations allow). Sets proof-of-status rules for driver’s licences and Ontario Photo Cards.

• Changes tenant law: faster non‑payment evictions, new pre‑payment to raise tenant issues at hearings, and an exception to “one month’s rent” compensation for some landlord‑use evictions.

• Adjusts development charge rules, adds a class for land acquisition, requires “local service” policies, and allows a transit station fee on residential projects at occupancy.

• Transfers Peel water and sewage utilities to Mississauga, Brampton, and Caledon, and creates a new “water and wastewater public corporation” model the province can apply elsewhere.

What it means for you#

• Tenants

  • Non‑payment eviction notices can take effect as soon as 7 days after notice (was typically longer).
  • To raise your own issues (like repairs) at a non‑payment hearing, you must first pay half the claimed arrears (unless regulations later say otherwise).
  • The Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) may have limits (set by regulation) on when it can refuse an eviction as unfair.
  • In “landlord’s own use” cases, landlords do not have to pay the one‑month compensation if they give at least 120 days’ notice and end the tenancy at the end of a term.

• Landlords

  • Faster timelines for non‑payment cases and clearer rules on “persistent late payment” (to be set by regulation).
  • You may not owe “one month’s rent” compensation for your own-use evictions if you give long, end‑of‑term notice.
  • LTB review requests must be filed within 15 days, unless extended.

• Drivers and cyclists

  • Municipalities are generally not allowed to reduce the number of marked car lanes to add a bike lane unless regulations permit it. Projects already under contract or started can proceed.
  • The province may reimburse cities for certain costs of providing information for bike-lane changes ordered under the Act, but not for installing bike lanes.
  • Applicants for certain driver’s licences may have to prove Ontario residency, legal status in Canada, and ability to work (for some licence/vehicle classes).

• People applying for an Ontario Photo Card

  • You may have to prove Ontario residency and legal status in Canada.

• Home builders and developers

  • Development charge by‑laws must create a separate “land acquisition” class. Limits apply to long‑range cost estimates.
  • Cities must publish annual DC statements by June 30 and give DC studies and by‑laws to the Minister on request.
  • Municipalities must adopt “local service policies” that say which works are paid by developers as local services.
  • A transit station charge can apply to residential projects and be paid at occupancy; financial security may be required.

• Municipalities and local councils

  • Metrolinx can require access, changes, or connections to municipal roads and infrastructure (including bridges, tunnels, life‑safety systems) for transit construction, operation, and maintenance.
  • Shorter notice periods apply for certain transit‑related directions.
  • New reporting duties to the Minister for transit‑oriented community sites.
  • Upper‑tier municipalities can designate community improvement areas and give or receive grants/loans without needing specific official plan wording.
  • Planning: some Minister decisions need not match provincial policy statements (except in the Greenbelt). Certain Minister orders gain streamlined posting (not the full regulation process).

• Peel region residents (Mississauga, Brampton, Caledon)

  • Water and sewage utility control will move from the Region of Peel to the three lower‑tier cities on a date set by the Minister or by January 1, 2029.

• Water and wastewater customers in areas designated under the new Act

  • The province can designate a new “water and wastewater public corporation” to run local water/sewage services.
  • The corporation can set and collect fees; unpaid amounts can be added to property tax bills.
  • Rates may be set in a plan reviewed by the Minister; if not approved, rates can be set by regulation.
  • Municipal staff, assets, and duties can be transferred to the corporation by by‑law.

• Contractors and trades

  • Construction Act changes clarify holdback rules when contracts are terminated or abandoned and set timing for notices. Some transition rules and regulation powers shift to the Minister.

• Farmers and rural property owners

  • More on‑farm sewage works will need approval if they exceed set daily capacity limits, or if multiple systems on a lot pass certain thresholds.

• Tow and storage operators

  • If the province sets maximum rates by regulation, you do not need to file your rate list with the Director.

• Property owners near transit lines or highways

  • The Minister can inspect and remove immediate hazards near transit corridors.
  • Certain provincial highway controls and designations are stated not to count as “expropriation” or damage requiring compensation.

Expenses#

No publicly available information.

Proponents' View#

• Will speed up transit and housing by cutting red tape and shortening notice periods.
• Gives the province the tools to coordinate big, complex projects across city lines, including access to municipal infrastructure.
• Keeps traffic moving by limiting lane reductions and aligning road standards.
• Strengthens ID integrity for licences and photo cards.
• Eases backlogs at the LTB with clearer forms, deadlines, and standards, so both tenants and landlords get quicker decisions.
• Brings clearer, more predictable rules for construction payments and municipal development charges.
• Creates a modern, unified option to manage water and wastewater, supporting growth while protecting public health.

Opponents' View#

• Shifts power from local councils to the province: Minister’s planning orders need not match provincial policy statements (outside the Greenbelt), and key orders avoid the full regulation process.
• Limits cities’ ability to add bike lanes or redesign streets, which critics say harms road safety and climate goals.
• Tilts LTB processes toward faster evictions: shorter timelines, required pre‑payment by tenants to raise issues, and less discretion for the Board.
• Removes one‑month compensation for some “landlord’s own use” evictions, which tenant groups say reduces tenant protections.
• The new water/wastewater corporation model reduces local control, allows fees to be added to tax bills, and grants broad legal immunity, raising accountability and affordability concerns.
• Transit and highway changes narrow property owners’ ability to seek compensation for impacts near corridors and highways.