Bill 56 Introduced, Building Code Amendments Submission and Advocacy on Removing Building Code Enforcement from Provincial Courts

Top Insights

• The province has introduced Bill 56, a red tape reduction bill including changes to as-of-right labour mobility, speed cameras, drinking water approvals, and forest management approvals. The province has also announced a review of Ontario’s economic development permit system, a “Made-in-Ontario” vehicle procurement policy and streamlined mining approvals.
• AMO provided the province with advice on how to best implement the plan to defer residential development charge payments until occupancy.
• AMO continues advocacy to reduce the burden on Provincial Offenses Courts by supporting the use of AMPs for building code enforcement.

Bill 56, Building a More Competitive Economy Act, 2025

Yesterday, the government tabled its newest red tape reduction bill. The bill and additional communications include a number of initiatives of interest to the municipal sector including:

Items in Bill 56

• Changes to require professional regulators to deem skilled workers certified in other provinces eligible to work in Ontario within 10 days. Municipalities are listed in the Ontario Labour Mobility Act. While AMO found no municipally regulated professions, local licensing practices may be affected; municipalities may wish to review their local licencing practices to determine if they are impacted by this proposal.

• Changes to allow health professionals from 16 additional regulated professions to work as-of-right in Ontario up to six months while applying for registration with their regulatory College.

• Despite significant concerns from municipalities, police chiefs, schools, and health care experts, the province has moved ahead with amendments to the Highway Traffic Act. The changes would remove municipal authority to operate Automated Speed Enforcement systems, permit the Minister to direct municipalities to install signs in school zones, and provide authority for the province to install signs where a municipality does not comply. Red light cameras are not implicated in this change and will still be permitted.

• Changes to the Clean Water Act to streamline drinking water approvals by allowing source protection authorities to approve routine updates to source protection plans, and regulatory updates to simplify and accelerate the process for creating new drinking water sources.

• Changes to the Crown Forest Sustainability Act to reduce administrative burdens by eliminating annual wood harvest approvals and enabling the forest industry to prepare a single forest management plan spanning multiple management units.

• Amendments to the Species Conservation Act to address a lack of clarity and consistency of language for species-at-risk and habitat protection orders.

• Technical corrections to the Ontario Heritage Act to reflect the current trade agreement.

Additional Narrative Items

• Conducting a review of Ontario’s economic development permits to identify duplicative, outdated, or unnecessary permits or approvals that could be removed or streamlined through a digital portal.
• Proclaiming sections of the Mining Act to implement the One Project One Process approvals process.
• Consulting on a “Made-in-Ontario” vehicle procurement policy for the public sector including municipalities.

Building Code Amendments Submission

AMO submitted comments to the Regulatory Registry advising the province on how to best implement the plan to defer residential development charge payments until occupancy, introduced under Bill 17 in the spring. To mitigate the risk of non-payment, top recommendations emphasized that municipalities must receive and verify the development charge payment before occupancy permit approval. AMO developed recommendations in consultation with municipal financial staff as well as Chief Building Officials.

AMO Supports Advocacy to Remove Building Code Enforcement from Provincial Courts

AMO has sent a letter to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing supporting advocacy from Ontario’s Building Officials and homebuilding sector calling on the province to allow municipalities to use an Administrative Monetary Penalty System for building code enforcement. This builds on AMO’s broader advocacy to reduce the burden on Provincial Offences Courts to address backlogs. It would also free up the capacity of building officials to focus on issuing building permits to deliver homes faster.