New provincial bill caves to developers and removes local control of building rules
Toronto - May 12, 2025
The Ontario government’s new Bill 17 will remove local municipal control over how our cities are built, and how buildings and roads are designed.
If passed, the bill will completely undermine municipal planning authority. This includes gutting green building standards like the Toronto Green Standard, which sets energy efficiency and environmental design standards for all new buildings. This leaves Ontarians living in lower-quality, less energy-efficient homes with higher heating and cooling bills. It also leaves communities with very different needs with few options to build to local conditions. For example, Toronto, Ottawa, and Thunder Bay have very different planning needs, environmental conditions and climate risks.
Developers in Ontario have been asking for permission to ignore climate change and make homeowners and building operators foot the bill. RESCON recently launched a legal challenge against green development standards, attempting to derail the local rules many municipalities have in place to address their own local conditions. If this bill passes, Premier Ford will be giving developers permission to pay less now so that residents pay more later.
Gutting municipal green building standards would weaken stormwater standards for buildings, which help keep us safe from worsening flooding, and rules making sure that new homes are more energy efficient. These rules also make sure that new homes can handle electric vehicles, new condos have the space to properly separate recycling and garbage, and improve building resilience to storms, heat, and floods. These are important standards meant to keep our homes safe. They are also the strongest tools municipalities have to address climate change.
Local green building standards have never impeded housing starts in Toronto. Toronto’s housing starts have grown or stayed consistent every year since TGS was implemented. In 2023, Toronto exceeded its housing targets, with nearly 96% of housing starts subject to the Toronto Green Standard.
This bill is not about building better or faster, it’s about lowering standards so that developers can make more profit while leaving Ontarians to pay the cost.
Contact:
Sarah Buchanan, Campaigns Director, Toronto Environmental Alliance
(647) 835-8203