Bill 175 explained in plain English
Building Universal and Inclusive Land Development in Ontario Act, 2024
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 43rd Parliament, 1st Session. Representative vote breakdowns appear when the Assembly publishes an Ayes and Nays page for the bill.
Our plain-language take, written for civic education.
Source: By PoliticalData.ca
Bill 175 amends the Planning Act to prohibit Ontario municipalities from using official plans and zoning by-laws to restrict housing development of four or fewer residential units, or to impose certain building restrictions on small residential buildings.
Bill 175 changes Ontario's planning rules to make it easier to build smaller residential buildings. The bill prevents municipalities from using their official plans (long-term planning documents) and zoning by-laws (land use rules) to prohibit or discourage four or fewer residential units on urban residential land. This means homeowners and developers could more easily add rental units, duplexes, or townhouses to residential properties. The bill also prevents municipalities from imposing floor-to-area ratios (limits on building size relative to land size) on residential buildings with three to six units, from prohibiting buildings four storeys or shorter, or from requiring parking spaces for residential buildings with at least four units. The bill comes into force 90 days after receiving Royal Assent.
- Prohibits official plans from containing policies that ban four or fewer residential units on urban residential land (in detached, semi-detached, or rowhouse configurations, or one additional ancillary structure)
- Prevents official plans from imposing minimum lot size requirements on parcels with four or fewer residential units
- Prohibits official plans from imposing floor-to-area ratios on residential buildings with three to six units
- Prevents official plans from prohibiting residential buildings from being four storeys or fewer in height
- Prohibits official plans from requiring parking spaces for residential buildings with at least four units
- Applies the same restrictions to municipal zoning by-laws (local land use regulations) as to official plans
- Comes into force 90 days after Royal Assent
- Ontario municipalities (cities, towns, and other local governments) that create official plans and zoning by-laws
- Property owners and developers on urban residential land who wish to develop housing with four or fewer units
- Residents of Ontario who may be affected by changes to local housing development rules
- Municipalities may not use official plans to ban four or fewer residential units on specified urban residential land
- Municipalities may not use zoning by-laws to ban four or fewer residential units on specified urban residential land
- Municipalities may not require minimum lot sizes for properties with four or fewer residential units
- Municipalities may not impose floor-to-area ratios on residential buildings with three to six units
- Municipalities may not prohibit residential buildings from being four storeys or fewer in height
- Municipalities may not require parking spaces for residential buildings with at least four residential units
- Bill comes into force 90 days after receiving Royal Assent (date of Royal Assent not specified in provided text; the bill shows no Royal Assent date has yet occurred as of the information provided)
- The bill text does not specify a Royal Assent date, so the exact commencement date cannot be determined from the provided information
- The bill does not define 'urban residential land' with precision, which may create ambiguity about which parcels are subject to these restrictions
- The bill does not explain how municipalities should comply with these changes or what happens to existing official plans and by-laws that currently contain prohibited policies
- The bill does not specify enforcement mechanisms or consequences if municipalities fail to comply
- It is unclear whether these restrictions apply retroactively to policies already in place or only to new or amended policies
- The bill does not address potential interactions with other provincial planning policies or rules
Official plans can no longer contain policies that prohibit using four or fewer residential units on urban residential land in detached houses, semi-detached houses, rowhouses, or one ancillary structure
Source: Section 1(1)
Official plans cannot impose floor-to-area ratios on residential buildings or structures with three to six residential units
Source: Section 1(2)
Official plans cannot prohibit residential buildings or structures from being four storeys or fewer in height
Source: Section 1(2)
Official plans cannot require parking spaces for residential buildings or structures with at least four residential units
Source: Section 1(2)
Municipal zoning by-laws cannot prohibit four or fewer residential units on urban residential land in detached houses, semi-detached houses, rowhouses, or one ancillary structure
Source: Section 2(1)
Zoning by-laws cannot impose floor-to-area ratios on residential buildings or structures with three to six residential units
Source: Section 2(2)
Zoning by-laws cannot prohibit residential buildings or structures from being four storeys or fewer in height
Source: Section 2(2)
Zoning by-laws cannot require parking spaces for residential buildings or structures with at least four residential units
Source: Section 2(2)
Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.
Official textProcess Snapshot
Vote Summary
This bill is still active. We only show vote counts after the legislature publishes a recorded division.
No published representative vote breakdown
This bill is still moving through the process. When a recorded division is published, representative positions can be listed here.
Official sources
Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.
How this data is sourced