Summary#

Bill 212, the Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act, 2024, would amend several Ontario laws and create the Building Highways Faster Act, 2024 and Highway 413 Act, 2024. Its stated goals are to speed up priority highway and broadband projects and reduce gridlock; those are goals, not guaranteed results. The parent Acts are not supplied, so I could not verify how the bill’s changes compare with current law.

• The Transportation Minister could require utility companies to move infrastructure for priority highways and could arrange the work if a company misses the deadline. The bill also bars certain applications to adjust possession dates after highway expropriation.
• For Highway 413, the bill would replace the Environmental Assessment Act process with a separate process requiring an environmental impact report, Indigenous consultation planning and public comments. Early works, land acquisition, contracts and authorizations could happen before that process is complete.
• Municipalities named by regulation would need the Minister’s approval for some new bicycle lanes that reduce motor-vehicle lanes. The Minister must remove bicycle lanes on Bloor Street, University Avenue and Yonge Street in Toronto, subject to prescribed exemptions or changes. Cabinet could order removal or reconfiguration of other lanes after a review.
• The bill sets driver’s licence and test fees. It also extends restricted-towing-zone rules to roadside assistance vehicles and services.
• For designated highway projects, some municipal limits on delivering goods or services would not apply. The bill also gives the Minister powers to inspect property for project planning, subject to notice and compensation rules.

What it means for you#

• Drivers: The listed licence and test fees would apply once the relevant provisions start. The bill does not show whether these are increases or reductions from current fees.
• Cyclists and municipalities: Lane changes could require provincial approval, and Toronto’s three named lanes must be removed unless prescribed exemptions or changes apply. Municipalities must provide requested support for removals; some reasonable support costs may be reimbursed. The bill does not promise compensation for the cost of installing bicycle lanes.
• Property owners near highway projects: The Minister could inspect property after at least 15 days’ notice, but not enter a dwelling for an ordinary site inspection. Damage from inspection work must be compensated for non-municipal owners if they claim within the specified period. A justice of the peace could authorize entry by court order, including entry to a dwelling and, if authorized, use of force.
• Utilities and infrastructure owners or operators: A utility company could be required to move, remove or take up infrastructure for a priority highway project. People who own or operate potentially affected infrastructure must provide requested information, generally within 15 days.
• Broadband providers and other eligible assignees: The Minister could assign an expropriated easement to a distributor, project proponent, telecommunications provider or another entity when needed for the Act’s purpose. The assignee must repay the Crown’s expropriation costs.
• Roadside assistance providers: Restricted-towing-zone rules would also apply to roadside assistance services and vehicles.
• Indigenous communities and the public: For Highway 413, Indigenous consultation and opportunities to comment on draft reports are required. The process is separate from the Environmental Assessment Act process.

Money#

The available material gives some fees and reimbursement rules, but no overall cost estimate.

• Driver’s licence fee: $7.50 for each six-month period or part of one. Listed test fees range from $16 to $99.
• The Minister must compensate utility companies for the actual costs of moving infrastructure when they do the required work. If the Minister arranges the work after a company fails to comply, the company must pay the Minister for resulting losses or expenses, not the actual cost of the work.
• The bill requires broadband easement assignees to repay Crown expropriation costs. It does not state the amounts.
• The Minister may reimburse municipalities for certain reasonable costs of timely support with bicycle-lane removals. The bill also allows compensation for damage to municipal property from highway site inspections, but does not require it.
• No estimates are provided for staffing, project costs, enforcement or compensation.

What is unclear#

• The bill leaves important details to future regulations, including which municipalities need bicycle-lane approval, which additional highway projects qualify, and what exemptions or changes apply to Toronto’s named lanes.
• It does not set out a detailed process for the Minister’s optional comments process on proposed broadband expropriations.
• The Highway 413 report process has no timelines in the supplied text. The Minister may decide what studies are appropriate for significant changes, and regulations may alter some process requirements.
• The bill does not say how its highway and bicycle-lane rules interact with all existing laws or programs. The parent Acts were not supplied, so the current rules and net changes could not be checked.
• The supplied text contains conflicting or duplicated commencement wording for some Highway Traffic Act changes. The exact start dates for those provisions are therefore unclear from this material. Several other schedules also depend on Royal Assent or a later proclamation.

Case for#

• The bill appears intended to reduce delays in highway construction by giving the Minister tools to coordinate utility work, obtain infrastructure information and inspect sites.
• A separate Highway 413 assessment process would still require an environmental report, public comments, Indigenous consultation planning and responses to concerns.
• Requiring utilities to move infrastructure could address a practical obstacle to highway construction, while the bill provides for compensation when a utility does the work.
• The bill’s stated goal is to improve the movement of people and goods; allowing deliveries for designated projects despite some municipal restrictions could support around-the-clock construction.

Case against#

• The Highway 413 process would be exempt from the Environmental Assessment Act, while allowing early works, land acquisition and contracts before the new assessment process is complete.
• Several key decisions depend on ministerial or cabinet powers, including which municipalities need bicycle-lane approval and whether other lanes should be removed. The bill does not set out a full review or appeal process for those decisions.
• The bill gives the Minister broad powers to require information, move utility infrastructure and inspect land. Some costs or compensation are limited, conditional or left to ministerial decisions.
• Removing bicycle lanes and making some municipal rules inoperative could reduce local control. The bill provides no estimate of the cost or effect of those changes.