Building Industry Applauds Bold New Ontario Housing Legislation: It will help address “cost-to-build crisis”, stimulate housing supply and protect Canadian jobs

/EIN News/ -- Toronto, May 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Greater Toronto Area, May 12, 2025 – The Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) applauds the provincial government and welcomes the introduction of The Protect Ontario by Building Faster and Smarter Act, 2025. The proposed legislation is a significant step towards addressing the current cost-to-build challenge, which has been hindering housing starts in the GTA. It will help increase housing supply and affordability, while also stimulating economic activity and protecting Canadian jobs.

“In this period of economic and tariff uncertainty, prioritizing housing is both a strategic imperative and a socio-economic imperative. Today’s proposed legislation provides a much-needed focus on homes in a region facing a housing deficit and affordability challenges, while also protecting Canadian jobs and stimulating the economy. In the Greater Toronto Area, 100% of the labour and 90% of the materials used to build housing are Canadian,” said Dave Wilkes, President and CEO of BILD. “We welcome the consultation on these important changes, however, given the magnitude of the current housing crisis and persistent economic threats, swift implementation and consistency with the spirit and intent of this proposed legislation are absolutely vital. I encourage all parties to support this effort to expand housing supply and provide economic stimulus.”

The Protect Ontario by Building Faster and Smarter Act, 2025, once implemented, will help address the housing crisis in the GTA by:

• Deferring development charges until first occupancy and modernizing Ontario’s development charges regime to standardize and codify various elements to support new housing while ensuring municipalities still have the resources required to provide infrastructure and services to support growth. 
• Simplifying, streamlining and bringing consistency and transparency to development applications, land use planning approvals, and contents of municipal official plans. Proposed changes will make it easier and faster to build residential, commercial and industrial buildings within and across Ontario’s municipalities.
• Reducing costs and speeding up building project approvals with consistent construction standards across Ontario municipalities, including addressing the cost and complexity brought about by the propagation of multiple and different sets of “green building standards” at the municipal level.

“As the market-based costs of production factors adjust, those costs imposed by governments must follow suit. We need strong leadership to get shovels in the ground and turn around the unprecedented downturn the industry is currently facing which has sales in the Toronto CMA at just 15% of the 10-year average and housing starts down nearly 60%,” said Wilkes. “This sharp decline is putting jobs at risk, slowing industry activity and jeopardizing the housing supply for 2027 and beyond. We applaud the leadership the Province has taken by introducing these bold initiatives which will remove red tape, speed up housing supply and streamline development charges to improve the financial viability of new housing projects and deliver more homes in the GTA.”

With more than 1,000 member companies, BILD is the voice of the home building, residential and non-residential land development and professional renovation industries in the Greater Toronto Area. The building and renovation industry provides 256,000 jobs in the region and $39.3 billion in investment value. BILD is affiliated with the Ontario and Canadian Home Builders’ Associations.

Janis McCulloch
                    Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD)
                    416-617-7994
                    jmcculloch@bildgta.ca