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Bill 60 Becomes Law
On November 27, 2025, the latest changes to Ontario's development regime as proposed by Bill 60, the Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, 2025 received Royal Assent ("Bill 60"). Bill 60 amends a number of key land use planning and development related pieces of legislation, including the Planning Act, the Development Charges Act, 1997, the Transit Oriented Communities Act, 2020, and the Construction Act, to achieve the goal of streamlining and standardizing the planning approval process and infrastructure delivery by lessening regulatory barriers.
Our previous bulletin discussing the changes proposed under Bill 60 related to Ontario's land use planning regime is available here, and our bulletins discussing Bill 60 and the pending amendments to the Construction Act are available here and here. There are no changes to the language from the time of our earlier publication.
As noted in our previous bulletins, Bill 60 provides the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing with authority to issue regulations permitting "as-of-right" variances to minimum or maximum zoning requirements up to a prescribed percentage stipulated in such regulation. Further to this, the Province published O. Reg. 257/25 on November 21, 2025, which provides that, for the purposes of setbacks, the "prescribed percentage" is 90%. In other words, variance of up to 10% from a setback distance is permitted as of right. Municipal committees and councils are already debating the impact of this change and proactive measures are being taken at that level to increase base zoning setbacks accordingly.
Conclusion
McMillan will continue to monitor any further changes to Ontario's planning, development and land use planning policy as the Province attempts to address the current housing supply crisis. If your lands or interests may be impacted, please contact Annik Forristal, Marc Kemerer, Christie Gibson, Kailey Sutton or Patrick Pinho, and our team would be pleased to discuss this important piece of legislation and the new regulation with you.
The foregoing provides only an overview and does not constitute legal advice. Readers are cautioned against making any decisions based on this material alone. Rather, specific legal advice should be obtained.
© McMillan LLP 2025
