Bill 17 gives more profit to corporate developers while risking higher bills and environmental damage for homeowners and communities.
TORONTO — Today, Premier Ford’s government passed Bill 17 with no committee hearings and very limited room for debate. Named the “Building Faster and Smarter Act”, the legislation gives developers sweeping powers to ignore local environmental and planning needs, thereby increasing costs for local homeowners and renters, and increasing environmental and climate risks like flooding to neighbourhoods and entire communities.
“There is no doubt in my mind that Bill 17 will make flooding and other extreme weather impacts worse in many communities across Ontario,” says How-Sen Chong, Climate Campaigner at Toronto Environmental Alliance.
“Governments have the responsibility to protect families and communities from escalating environmental and climate risks. Instead, Doug Ford’s Bill 17 allows developers to make extra profit by making the homes they build more expensive to operate, and more vulnerable to extreme weather.”
Bill 17 threatens municipal green development standards across the province, including the Toronto Green Standard (TGS). This is an award-winning set of standards that has been operating in Toronto for fifteen years, all while the City has met or exceeded its provincial home building goals.
“In our changing climate, green building standards are no longer a ‘nice-to-have’,” Chong adds. “Developers have already been meeting these standards for many years in Toronto. Moving backwards to lower standards makes no sense. We need good green building standards to make sure that families are protected against extreme weather, and that the homes they live in are affordable to power and cleaner to run.”
Background - The Toronto Green Standard (TGS)
Toronto’s green development standards for new buildings have been in effect since 2010, with voluntary standards preceding these in 2006. The TGS sets energy efficiency and environmental design standards for all new buildings and includes measures to make sure new developments include green infrastructure like trees, green roofs, boulevards, and other important features to absorb stormwater on site and provide cooling as Toronto’s rapidly becomes hotter and more flood-prone.
There’s no evidence that local green building standards have ever impeded housing starts in Toronto. In fact, Toronto’s housing starts have grown or stayed consistent every year since TGS was implemented. In 2023, Toronto exceeded its housing starts, with nearly 96% of housing starts subject to the Toronto Green Standard.
In 2024, a consortium of developers named RESCON launched a legal challenge against municipal green development standards in an attempt to increase their profit margins. Premier Ford’s Bill 17 appeared less than 6 months later.
- 30 -
For more, contact:
How-Sen Chong, Climate Campaigner, Toronto Environmental Alliance
email: [email protected]