This is the first instalment of a two-part Industry Perspectives Op-Ed by Andy Manahan, senior fellow, Global Public Affairs, looking at ministerial zoning orders in Ontario.
Ontario is facing a structural housing slump and based on current trends will not achieve its target of building 1.5 million new homes over a 10-year period. On average, 150,000 housing units would have to be built every year from 2022 to 2031. According to the provincial budget tabled by finance minister Peter Bethlenfalvy, Ontario’s starts were only half of this figure in 2024 at 74,573 and are forecast to drop to 71,800 in 2025.
The Ontario government recognizes that there is a wide gap between our growing population and housing production but remains committed to build more housing and to provide municipalities with funding for housing-enabling infrastructure. This article will focus on one of the tools in the toolbox that has been relied on by the Doug Ford government over the past several years: ministerial zoning orders or MZOs.
Despite an auditor general of Ontario’s performance report released in December 2024 that criticized the government’s application of MZOs, the province has taken further legislative steps to override local planning controls to fast-track developments through the expanded application of MZOs to help unlock the logjam around getting homes built.
Background
Under section 47 of the Planning Act, the minister of municipal affairs and housing (MMAH) is provided with executive powers to use MZOs to bypass the usual approval process which might include local planning requirements, environmental studies and public consultation. There is no recourse to appeal the minister’s decisions.
In 2020, the former minister of MMAH, Steve Clark, virtually addressed the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference by saying MZOs are an important tool to cut red tape to build projects such as long-term care facilities and affordable housing. He further emphasized MZOs would aid the pandemic recovery by getting shovels in the ground faster, creating jobs and supporting local priorities.
During the onset of COVID-19, Clark began to significantly ramp up the use of MZOs as a way to accelerate housing construction and new investments in critical sectors. The AG report found that the PC government under Premier Ford used MZOs 114 times between 2019 and 2023, for an average of 23 per year for this five-year period.
By comparison, a total of 25 MZOs were issued by the previous Liberal government during their 15 years in power.
The AG further found that in the previous century (1946-1998), the bulk of MZOs were used in northern Ontario and areas without municipal organization (169 out of 323), with a further 105 MZOs to protect agricultural and natural areas such as forests and wetlands from development pressures.
Contrast this with the 2019-2023 period when only one MZO was for a conservation-oriented purpose and the rest were primarily to advance residential and industrial-commercial-institutional projects.
During a news conference, auditor general Shelley Spence said, “We found that none of the information packages that the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing prepared for the minister during this time contained an assessment as to whether the MZO was necessary, including if it would expedite the project, as opposed to using the normal municipal planning process.”
Addressing local concerns could help address criticisms have been directed to the provincial government by being transparent as to the necessity of the MZO option.
New bill
In mid-May, Bill 17, Protect Ontario by Building Faster and Smarter Act, 2025 was introduced in the legislature by new MMAH Minister Rob Flack to speed up both housing construction and infrastructure projects. Similar to the COVID crisis, this is portrayed as an economic resiliency measure by Ontario and is a response to the threats initiated by U.S. President Donald Trump.
It is a wide-ranging bill that will accelerate transit projects and transit-oriented communities, standardize municipal approvals and modernize roadbuilding specifications, to name a few goals. It is also worth noting the province wants to simplify the development charge regime by, for example, deferring payment until building occupancy.
The legislation, which has been fast-tracked through a time-allocation motion, will also allow MZOs to be issued by not only the minister of MMAH but also the minister of infrastructure. In addition, there will be discretion for the minister to make decisions under the Planning Act, such as official plan approvals, without being bound to provincial policy consistency.
AMO is working in collaboration with the Ontario Home Builders’ Association (OHBA) on developing a better financial framework and on shortening planning approval timelines. While these are important initiatives, market forces beyond Trump’s disruptive interventions are factors at play.
According to an OHBA report, across Ontario, construction has not started on 330,000 housing units that already have municipal planning approvals in place. So, will adding more MZO approvals really make a difference in increasing housing supply or are there other more fundamental issues holding construction back?
Housing affordability is also a priority of this proposed legislation. During a May 15 presentation to kick off the committee hearings, Flack stressed this bill would “help us get shovels in the ground and meet the growing need for more affordable homes in Ontario.”
In the technical briefing accompanying Bill 17, it says concerns have been raised about transparency and environmental impacts during the MZO process. For the “future state,” the solution to this concern is that “the minister would have the authority to impose conditions that must be met before a use permitted by an MZO comes into effect.”
These conditions could include actions for the municipality or the proponent.
Clearly, the minister and his staff have heeded some of the concerns raised by the auditor general last December. Regulations to accompany the new legislation will provide a better picture of whether the AG’s recommendations have been fully embraced by the government.
Andy Manahan is a senior fellow at Global Public Affairs. He has over 30 years of experience in infrastructure, construction and development. In the upcoming second part of this Industry Perspectives Op-ed, Manahan will explore the Ontario auditor general’s views of MZOs, provide a summary of a few of the 19 AG recommendations, delve into the potential risks associated with the continued reliance on MZOs and the need to focus on municipal approvals modernization. This is all with the view of answering a question posed in the headline: Are MZOs a useful planning tool or an unnecessary override?
To comment or pitch an Industry Perspectives Op-ed submission idea, email editor@dailycommercialnews.com.
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