New Ontario Housing Act Means Toronto’s Getting Easier to Build In 2025

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If you’re a real estate investor in Toronto, listen up — the rules are changing again. Ontario just introduced a new housing law called the Protect Ontario by Building Faster and Smarter Act, 2025. The goal? Build faster, cut red tape, and stop cities from holding things back.

This is good news for investors.

The province is stepping in to make building easier and cheaper. Local delays and roadblocks? Ontario’s trying to shut those down by pulling more planning power to the provincial level. Cities, including Toronto, are being told to follow suit — and in many ways, Toronto’s already ahead.

Let’s break down what this new law means for you.

The Big Picture: Faster Builds, Lower Costs

The core goal of this act is simple: build more housing, faster. That means reducing bureaucracy, forcing municipalities to comply, and making it harder for them to delay or block development. For investors, this shifts the balance of power in your favour.

✅ Key Win: Deferred Development Charges

You no longer have to pay development charges (DCs) upfront when pulling a building permit. Instead, you can defer those payments until the unit is occupied.

  • That means better cash flow and lower carrying costs.

  • And here’s the kicker — cities can’t charge interest on the deferred payments anymore.

This change alone can save you thousands on a project.

Toronto Helped Push Through DC Timelines Too

  • There’s another important shift. In the past, if a city wanted to reduce or waive development charges, they had to do a background study — a process that could take six months or more and cost money.

    Thanks to input from Toronto, that step is now gone. Cities can now drop DCs without doing studies or hosting public consultations, which means faster implementation and fewer delays.

Municipalities Must Follow the Province

Another big change: cities can’t just make up their own rules anymore.

The province recently updated the Planning Act to make it easier to build additional dwelling units (ADUs). For example, they’ve:

  • Removed angular plane requirements

  • Reduced setbacks (as low as 4m for backyard or laneway suites)

But Toronto is trying to hold onto older, more restrictive interpretations — like saying these changes only apply to one-storey backyard units or if the main house has no more than two units. That doesn’t line up with the provincial changes.

While these local interpretations may still cause friction or slow things down, the new provincial law means Toronto can’t legally enforce conflicting policies. It might take time, but the direction is clear — and it favours builders.

Bottom Line: It’s Getting Easier to Build in Toronto

Ontario — and Toronto — are making real changes to encourage more housing. There’s still some resistance at the city level, but overall, we’re moving in the right direction. The province is tightening the rules to make sure cities get in line.

So if you’re planning to build or add units in Toronto, now’s the time to act. If you follow where the city and province are heading, you’ll save money and time — and that directly boosts your bottom line.

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