Following a very expedited legislative process, the Ontario government passed Bill 17, Protect Ontario by Building Faster and Smarter Act, 2025, on June 3, 2025.

The Bill aims to accelerate development and housing construction in Ontario by streamlining planning processes, reducing development charges, and allowing for additional flexibility in land use planning. It is the third bill in a series designed to address housing affordability and economic growth.

Key goals and provisions of the Bill include accelerating development approvals, reducing development charges, simplifying land use planning, expanding municipal powers, streamlining transit-oriented communities, permitting schools on residential lands, updating building standards, standardizing development charges, and removing procedural requirements.

Bill 17 amends other acts with respect to infrastructure, housing, and transit. These include the Building Code Act, 1992, Building Transit Faster Act, 2020, City of Toronto Act, 2006, Development Charges Act, 1997, Metrolinx Act, 2006, Ministry of Infrastructure Act, 2011, Planning Act, and Transit-Oriented Communities Act, 2020.

Public consultation was very limited on this Bill due to the speed at which it was passed. As a result, the new Ontario Bill is being criticized, along with Bill 5, which weakens environmental protections and eliminates green building bylaws.

In its role to regulate the practice of architecture to protect the public interest, the Ontario Association of Architects (OAA) has been monitoring the development of Bill 17 since its introduction on May 12, 2025. The Association has identified some changes and has shared concerns that have been voiced by members of the profession, others in the design/construction community, and the public.