Fast-Track Housing, Transit, and Water

Summary#

Bill 98 changes planning, building, transit, and water/wastewater laws to speed up home building and improve transit across Ontario. It standardizes parts of municipal planning, limits some local design controls, creates province‑wide tools to align transit fares and services, and adjusts rules for water and wastewater entities. It also exempts non‑profit retirement homes from development charges.

Key changes:

• Transit: The Minister of Transportation can set fare structures, require a unified fare payment system, share fares across agencies, set “priority routes” with service standards (including across municipal borders), and require a unified booking system for specialized transit. Specialized transit must provide cross‑boundary trips for people with disabilities to a set distance without transfers.
• Planning and building: Municipalities cannot require electric‑vehicle (EV) charging equipment through zoning or site plan control. References to “sustainable design” are removed from site plan powers. Municipal and Toronto by‑laws may set environmental standards as part of construction standards (outside site plan control).
• Official plans: A new, standardized structure and set of land‑use designations is required. The Minister may issue written directions on how to comply. The prior legal requirement to include climate mitigation/adaptation policies in official plans is repealed.
• Development charges: Non‑profit retirement home developments are fully exempt from development charges (future instalments included).
• Metrolinx: A new process lets Metrolinx obtain building‑code compliance assessments and inspections for transit project buildings without being bound by the Building Code Act permitting process.
• Water/wastewater: New consent rules for non‑municipal water or sewage public utilities; expanded use of publicly owned water/wastewater corporations, with limits on share ownership and asset transfers; employee continuity on transfers.

What it means for you#

• Transit riders

  • You may see more consistent fares, easier transfers, and a single way to pay fares across multiple transit systems. Timing depends on future regulations.
  • Service on certain “priority routes” could be increased or standardized, including across municipal boundaries.
  • The province may publish information on how local systems comply with the new requirements.

• People with disabilities using specialized transit

  • A unified trip‑booking system will be required.
  • On request, you must be taken from within the service area to a set distance beyond it without having to transfer; a needed support person rides free. The exact distance will be set by regulation.

• Transit agencies and municipalities

  • If prescribed by regulation, your system must join a unified fare payment system and follow province‑set fare, transfer and discount rules.
  • You may have to share fare revenue with other systems by zone, under rules set by the Minister (including agreements or arbitration).
  • You must provide reports, data, and documents to the Minister and, when directed, to Metrolinx. The Minister may publish compliance information.
  • For specialized transit, you must participate in a unified booking system and provide cross‑boundary trips as prescribed.

• City of Toronto and other municipalities (site plan and zoning)

  • You cannot require EV charging equipment through zoning by‑laws or site plan approvals.
  • “Sustainable design” references are removed from site plan powers. Requirements on some “prescribed matters” cannot be imposed (the matters will be set by regulation).
  • Control over elements on adjoining streets is limited to what is needed for health, safety, accessibility, or protecting adjoining lands.
  • Environmental standards are recognized as construction standards, but these are not site plan matters.

• Developers and home builders

  • Municipalities cannot require EV charging equipment through site plan or zoning.
  • Minimum lot size rules for urban residential land (outside the Greenbelt) cannot exceed an area that will be set by regulation, and frontage/depth rules cannot be used to force larger lots than that area. This could enable more small‑lot housing where allowed.
  • Parkland: municipalities can accept identified land or easements for parks and recreation with broader agreement tools. If the Tribunal orders a conveyance, that land counts toward parkland requirements at 0.7 of its area (or more if the municipality chooses).

• Non‑profit retirement home providers

  • New developments by eligible non‑profit corporations are exempt from development charges. The exemption applies to future instalments coming due after the law takes effect.

• Municipal planners and councils

  • You must shift to a new, standardized official plan format with set chapters and land‑use designations. The Minister can issue binding written directions on how to comply (these are not “regulations” under the Legislation Act).
  • The legal duty to include climate mitigation/adaptation policies in official plans is repealed.
  • In some Simcoe County lower‑tier municipalities, and later others named by regulation, upper‑tier planning responsibilities can be removed or limited.

• Metrolinx and local chief building officials

  • Metrolinx can seek building‑code assessments, inspections, and occupancy opinions for transit project buildings without being subject to the Building Code Act permitting process. Municipal building officials provide reports and inspections within set timelines and have good‑faith immunity; municipalities remain liable for their officials’ torts.

• Water and wastewater sector (municipalities, employees, entities)

  • Non‑municipal persons need municipal consent to construct, maintain, or operate a water or sewage public utility. If provincial regulations set criteria and they are met, municipalities must consent and may impose prescribed conditions.
  • “Water and wastewater public corporations” must have shares owned only by governments or their agents. Asset transfers are restricted unless declared no longer needed. Employee jobs and collective agreements continue through transfers.
  • Certain municipal long‑term debt cannot be transferred; regulations can require payments from corporations to municipalities related to that debt.
  • Some consents under the Municipal Act will be deemed consents under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

• What is unclear

  • The exact fare prices, transfer rules, priority routes, service standards, “prescribed distance” for specialized transit trips, the “prescribed area” for minimum lot sizes, and the “prescribed matters” barred under site plan will be set later by regulation.

Expenses#

The bill may increase administrative and compliance costs for municipalities and transit systems and reduce some municipal revenues; no official cost estimate is provided.

• Transit agencies and municipalities could face costs to:
  • adopt unified fare payment and booking systems,
  • meet new reporting and data‑sharing requirements,
  • adjust services on priority routes, and
  • implement fare‑sharing mechanisms.
• Municipalities could see reduced development charge revenue from the exemption for non‑profit retirement homes.
• Planning departments will incur transition costs to rewrite official plans to the new standard format.
• Building officials may see added workload for Metrolinx reports and inspections (fees may be set by regulation).
• Water/wastewater restructuring may require legal, financial, and HR work; regulations may also require reserve funds or financial assurances for non‑municipal utilities.
• No publicly available information on provincial funding, if any, to offset these costs.

Proponents' View#

• The bill appears intended to speed up home building by:
  • limiting local rules that can add time or cost (for example, barring EV charging mandates in site plan or zoning),
  • capping how large minimum lot sizes can be in urban areas outside the Greenbelt, and
  • standardizing official plans to reduce complexity and delays.
• It aims to improve transit rider experience by:
  • creating a single fare/payment approach across systems,
  • setting transfer and discount rules, and
  • integrating service on cross‑boundary priority routes.
• Requirements for specialized transit could make cross‑boundary travel easier for people with disabilities.
• Allowing environmental construction standards through building‑related by‑laws could focus environmental protections where they function best, while keeping site plan processes simpler.
• Water/wastewater provisions seek to maintain public ownership, clarify asset transfers, and ensure employee continuity, which could support efficient regional service delivery.

Opponents' View#

• One concern is reduced local control:
  • The Minister can set fares, routes, and service standards and can direct how fare revenue is shared.
  • Official plans must follow a province‑set template, and the Minister’s directions are binding without going through the regulation process.
  • Site plan powers are narrowed, including a ban on requiring EV charging equipment and limits tied to future “prescribed matters.”
• The bill removes the legal requirement for official plans to include climate mitigation and adaptation policies, which may be seen as weakening climate planning at the local level.
• The transit data and document‑sharing powers are broad; this may raise questions about confidentiality and privacy, though the Act authorizes collection, use, and disclosure.
• The immunity and bar on most lawsuits under the transit Act (while allowing judicial review) may limit recourse for parties affected by fare or service changes.
• Costs are likely for agencies to change fare systems, integrate services, and adopt new booking platforms; no funding mechanism is specified.
• Municipalities may lose development charge revenue from non‑profit retirement homes and may face parkland credit changes (e.g., ordered conveyances counting at 0.7), affecting park planning and finances.
• Several key details (minimum lot size area, specialized transit trip distance, prescribed site plan matters) are left to future regulations, making the full impact uncertain.