The one two punch to the stomach of Bill 5 and Bill 17 are devastating blows to Ontario’s environment and to the climate. If these are protecting Ontario, I would hate to see what a frontal attack would look like. 

Following on the heels of the power grabbing and endangered species abandonment of the recent Bill 5, the Ford government has continued its years long, failed legislative and policy attempts to get the development industry to build the housing we need. It introduced Bill 17- Protect Ontario by Building Faster and Smarter Act, 2025.

A deep dive into this omnibus bill again reveals virtually no meaningful, positive steps to address the housing crisis. The bill proposes to defer development charges to occupancy rather than building permit, make municipal development charge (DC) reductions retroactive to under construction homes which paid a higher DC, and exempt all Long-Term Care Homes from DCs (an exemption which should likely only be for municipal or not-for-profit projects). Otherwise, the Bill contains no concrete steps to address the cost or facilitate the construction of housing.

All the other proposed development charge provisions are minor tweaks or commitments to consult on other potential items down the road – like the government dictating how much of infrastructure costs should be borne by existing residents (worrying given the government’s penchant to favor developers) and exploring a water/wastewater utility model – a potentially positive model but extreme caution needed given this government’s track record.