Bill 45 explained in plain English
Building More Homes on Major Streets and Transit Corridors Act, 2022
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
This bill amends Ontario's Planning Act to require municipalities' official plans to authorize midrise housing (6–11 stories) on major streets and transit corridors, with protections against appeals of these policies except by the Minister.
Bill 45 changes Ontario's Planning Act to make it easier to build midrise residential buildings in specific locations. The bill requires that official plans (long-term planning documents created by municipalities) must include policies that allow midrise housing developments with 6 to 11 stories on major streets, including areas near transit corridors, within settled areas. A "major street" is defined as a highway that is not primarily used for property access. The bill makes these policies difficult to challenge—normally people can appeal planning decisions, but the bill says there can be no appeals against these midrise housing policies, except for appeals brought by the Ontario Minister responsible for municipal affairs. The bill also requires municipal councils to ensure their zoning by-laws follow these midrise housing policies. The bill comes into force when it receives Royal Assent.
- Requires official plans to include policies authorizing midrise housing developments (6–11 stories) on major streets in areas of settlement, including transit corridors
- Defines 'major street' as a highway whose primary function is not property access
- Removes the right to appeal official plan policies about midrise housing, except for appeals by the Minister
- Removes the right to appeal zoning by-laws that implement these midrise housing policies, except for appeals by the Minister
- Requires municipalities to amend their zoning by-laws to give effect to the midrise housing policies
- Allows the Minister to appeal or challenge these policies if needed
- Local municipalities in Ontario
- Municipal councils (required to pass zoning by-laws that give effect to midrise housing policies)
- Developers and property owners (may have easier approval paths for midrise housing on major streets and transit corridors)
- Members of the public (lose appeal rights for official plan and zoning decisions related to these midrise housing policies, though the Minister retains appeal rights)
- Official plans must contain policies authorizing midrise housing (6–11 stories) on major streets and transit corridors in areas of settlement
- Municipal councils must ensure zoning by-laws give effect to these midrise housing policies
- Public members lose the right to appeal official plan policies about midrise housing (except the Minister may appeal)
- Public members lose the right to appeal zoning by-laws that implement these policies (except the Minister may appeal)
- The Minister retains the right to appeal or challenge these policies
- Bill comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent (date not specified in bill text, but status indicates it has passed)
- The bill text does not specify which streets qualify as 'major streets' beyond the definition provided; municipalities may need further guidance
- The bill does not set timelines for when municipalities must update their official plans or zoning by-laws to comply
- The bill does not specify what happens if a municipality fails to update its by-laws; enforcement mechanisms are not detailed
- The bill does not define 'areas of settlement' with specificity; this term may vary by municipality
- It is unclear whether existing zoning that prohibits midrise housing must be changed, or only that new policies must allow it going forward
The Planning Act now requires official plans to authorize midrise housing on major streets and transit corridors in settled areas. It removes public appeal rights for these policies (except for the Minister), and requires municipalities to update zoning by-laws to implement these policies.
Source: Section 16, Section 17, Section 22(7.2), Section 34, and new Section 35.1.1
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.
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Vote Summary
This bill is still active. We only show vote counts after the legislature publishes a recorded division.
No published representative vote breakdown
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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