Ontario’s Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, 2025 (Bill 60), arrives with a clear message: the Province wants housing, infrastructure and rental supply built faster — and it’s reshaping planning, development and tenancy processes to make that happen. We’re taking a closer look at Bill 60’s real impact.
On paper, Bill 60 introduces measures to accelerate approvals, streamline zoning rules, modernize development charges and reduce delays at the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB). For developers, landowners, municipalities, and landlords, the Bill signals an era of greater provincial intervention and a push toward efficiency.
While the Bill aims to accelerate development, planning experts have questioned whether its speed-first approach is practical or whether it introduces new uncertainties that could delay projects, and tenancy advocacy groups have raised concerns that the reforms make it easier for landlords to evict tenants.
With the consultation of Caravel Lawyer, Alan Sless, we review the promises versus problems that this Bill is proposing.
The Promises: What Bill 60 Aims to Achieve
Bill 60 positions speed as the solution, introducing a suite of reforms intended to remove planning bottlenecks and move development projects forward more quickly.
1. Faster Approvals and More “As-of-Right” Development
Bill 60 grants the Province new regulation-making authority to permit additional “as-of-right” zoning variations on prescribed lands, with the specific standards and conditions to be defined through future regulations. The intent is clear: fewer approvals, fewer steps, greater speed.
2. Expanded Ministerial Power for Planning Decisions
In one of the Bill’s most significant changes, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing is no longer required to ensure planning decisions are consistent with Provincial Policy Statements (outside the Greenbelt). This is meant to enable decisive, faster approvals on priority projects.
3. Streamlined Municipal Planning Frameworks
Bill 60, alongside related Environmental Registry consultations, contemplates:
- simplified and standardized Official Plans
- reduced page counts and word limits for Official Plans
- the removal of development standards from Official Plans
- elimination or restriction of secondary plans
The vision is an Ontario where plans are simpler, clearer, and faster to implement.
4. Reduced Red Tape for Developers
Key measures include:
- removal of Toronto’s green roof requirements
- provincial consideration of eliminating “green development standards” outside buildings
- reforms to Development Charges, including new classifications and standardized treatment of local services
The goal: reduce costs, reduce variation across municipalities, and make development more predictable.
5. Faster Dispute Resolution and Enforcement at the LTB
The Bill introduces new rules designed to:
- shorten timelines for review requests
- restrict when tenants can raise new issues
- clarify “persistent late payment”
- accelerate enforcement of eviction orders
This is positioned as a way to increase rental housing supply by reducing delays and administrative backlogs.
The Problems: Where Bill 60 Falls Short
While Bill 60’s goals are ambitious, planning professionals and municipal law experts highlight a number of concerns — both in how the changes were introduced and how they may play out in practice.
1. Speed Comes at the Cost of Predictability
The Bill grants the Minister sweeping authority to ignore provincial planning policies — a major departure from Ontario’s long-standing planning framework.
For developers and landowners, this may sound like good news. But the flip side is greater uncertainty.
If approvals hinge more on Ministerial discretion than on clear policy pathways, stakeholders may find it harder to:
- predict outcomes
- structure deals
- model timelines
- negotiate with municipalities
Consistency is the backbone of effective planning; Bill 60 risks variability.
2. More MZOs, Less Oversight
Bill 60 streamlines the legal treatment of Ministerial Zoning Orders by removing their classification as regulations, a change intended to speed decision-making while maintaining public posting and alignment with the provincial zoning framework.
These changes prioritize speed, but they may:
- undermine municipal authority
- reduce transparency
- increase tensions between municipalities and developers
- invite litigation or procedural challenges
The Province is betting on cooperation; critics warn that conflict is equally likely — and potentially more disruptive.
3. Standardizing Official Plans Ignores Local Realities
The push to simplify and standardize official plans — including capping their length and limiting secondary plans — is framed as a way to reduce complexity.
But official plans exist because communities differ. A one-size-fits-all format risks:
- stripping out local nuance
- eroding municipal autonomy
- oversimplifying planning for complex growth areas
- prompting more site-specific zoning battles
Secondary plans, in particular, are essential for coordinating growth in intensification zones. Eliminating them could slow, not speed, large-scale redevelopment.
4. As-of-Right Variances May Be Difficult to Implement
While the promise is appealing, experts highlight several issues:
- the Province has not yet defined which standards qualify
- municipal enforcement may vary
- Committees of Adjustment may shift their interpretation of “minor variances”
- the transition framework is unclear
The risk: an interim period of confusion that delays, rather than accelerates, development.
5. The Removal of Green Standards May Carry Long-Term Costs
Bill 60’s approach to “green development standards” — particularly the intent to remove lot-level environmental requirements — could have unintended consequences.
These standards support:
- stormwater management
- flood mitigation
- tree canopy preservation
- climate resilience
Eliminating them may expose municipalities (and developers) to future infrastructure and environmental challenges — challenges that are typically more expensive to address after the fact.
6. Landlord and Tenant Matters
While the stated goal is to speed up LTB hearings and increasing supply of rental accommodations, the effects are reduced rights for tenants as follows:
- tenants will not be allowed to raise new issues at a rent arrears hearings without providing advance notice
- reduced time limits for tenants to pay rent arrears to avoid eviction
- landlords no longer need to compensate tenants for terminations for landlord’s own use, but will need to give 120 days’ notice to tenants
- time limits for the review of LTB decisions are reduced from 30 days to 15 days
- changes may contribute to greater housing instability
As with other aspects of Bill 60, the push for faster outcomes in landlord and tenant matters comes with meaningful trade-offs that warrant close attention.
Conclusion: Faster on Paper — But Is It Faster in Practice?
Bill 60 signals the Province’s urgent desire to accelerate housing delivery, modernize planning tools, and remove perceived barriers to development. Its intentions align with Ontario’s pressing need for more housing, more infrastructure and more rental supply.
But speed alone does not guarantee results.
The Bill’s heavy reliance on Ministerial discretion, the rollback of environmental and planning safeguards, the pressure on municipal capacity, the resultant diminishing of tenants’ rights and the gaps in implementation detail all raise significant questions about whether these changes will achieve the outcomes envisioned — or simply shift delays and disputes into new areas.
As Ontario’s planning and development landscape continues to evolve, stakeholders will need to navigate both the opportunities and the uncertainty created by Bill 60. Municipalities, developers, and landowners alike should stay engaged as regulations are drafted, consultations progress, and the practical impacts become clearer.
If you’re assessing how Bill 60 may impact your projects or operations, our team is here to help you navigate the changes with clarity and confidence. Connect with us today.