Introduction to Davies Howe LLP’s Bill 98 and Related Initiatives Blog Series
On March 30, 2026, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing (the “Minister”) introduced Bill 98: the Building Homes and Improving Transportation Infrastructure Act, 2026 (“Bill 98”). Bill 98 represents a further step in the ongoing effort to centralize and standardize land use planning rules, reduce development costs, and accelerate housing delivery across Ontario.
The introduction of Bill 98 coincides with the provincial and federal governments’ recent announcement of their agreement to invest approximately $8.8 billion over 10 years in housing-enabling infrastructure aimed at reducing development charges and lowering the cost of building new homes across Ontario. More information on this agreement can be found in Davies Howe LLP’s recent blog post here.
Bill 98 has been ordered to second reading and can be found here. Its release was accompanied by a technical briefing outlining the Province’s rationale for many of the proposed changes. In addition, a number of proposals associated with Bill 98 have been posted on the Environmental Registry of Ontario (the “ERO”), including those pertaining to forthcoming regulations that have yet to be prescribed. A link to the proposals can be found below. Stay tuned for the Davies Howe LLP blog series, which will describe the proposed changes in more detail.
- ERO 026-0300: Proposed Planning Act, City of Toronto Act, 2006, Building Code Act, 1992 and Municipal Act, 2001 Changes (Schedules 1, 2 and 7 of Bill 98 – Building Homes and Improving Transportation Infrastructure Act, 2026)
- ERO 026-0301: Proposed amendments to the Water and Wastewater Public Corporations Act, 2025 and consequential amendment to the Safe Drinking Water Act, 2002
- ERO 026-0302: Proposed Municipal Act and Safe Drinking Water Act Changes -Communal Water and Wastewater Systems
- ERO 026-0304: Draft Projection Methodology Guideline (PMG) – Supporting PPS 2024 Implementation
- ERO 026-0305: Proposed Regulations – Electronic Submission of Materials and Notices
- ERO 026-0309: Proposed Regulation to Prohibit Mandatory Enhanced Development Standards as a Condition of Land Division Approvals
- ERO 026-0310: Proposal to Reform Site Plan Control under the Planning Act and the City of Toronto Act, 2006
- ERO 026-0311: Proposed Regulatory Approach to Establish Minimum Residential Lot Size in Urban Areas
- ERO 026-0312: Proposed Changes to Support Standardizing of Parkland Dedication Requirements
- ERO 026-0313: Streamlining Complete Application Requirements
- ERO 026-0314: Proposed Changes to Various Regulations to Specify Additional Prescribed Professions for Complete Applications
- ERO 026-0315: Consultation on Upper-Tier Official Plans, Secondary Plans and Site and Area-Specific Policies
Further, additional related ERO postings which resulted in many of these proposed changes are now closed for comment and can be found here:
- ERO 025-1099: Consultation on Simplifying and Standardizing Official Plans
- ERO 025-1100: Consultation on Minimum Lot Sizes
- ERO 025-1101: Consultation on Enhanced Development Standards – Lot Level (outside of buildings)
As Bill 98 proposes to amend multiple Acts, this blog series examines the key components of Bill 98 and related initiatives, with a focus on how these changes may affect development approvals, municipal decision-making, and project timelines..
- Part 1 will outline the key imminent legislative changes, including amendments to the Planning Act, Building Code Act, the Municipal Act, the City of Toronto Act, 2006 and the Development Charges Act, as well as other related initiatives.
- Part 2 will review the forthcoming proposed legislative and regulatory changes, including the proposed new official plan framework, complete application requirements and potential site plan reform.
- Part 3 will examine proposed changes related to parkland dedication, including the treatment of encumbered parkland and Privately Owned Public spaces (POPs).
Together, these posts will provide a comprehensive overview of the Province’s latest efforts to reshape the land use planning system in Ontario.