Bill 98, Building Homes and Improving Transportation Infrastructure Act, 2026
Chamber
ontario
Stage
Introduced
This Ontario bill creates new transit fare integration rules, exempts non-profit retirement homes from development charges, and removes EV charging requirements from zoning laws.
Key Changes
- Creates the Fare Alignment and Seamless Transit Act, 2026, giving the province power to set transit fares, create unified fare payment systems, and coordinate transit routes across municipalities
- Exempts non-profit retirement home developments from municipal development charges
- Prohibits municipalities and zoning by-laws from requiring property owners to install electric vehicle (EV) charging equipment in parking facilities
- Removes the requirement for municipal official plans to include goals and actions related to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change adaptation
- Standardizes the structure and format of official plans across Ontario, with transition deadlines of 2028 for larger cities and 2029 for others
- Restricts how large municipalities can require residential lots to be (minimum parcel size limits) and clarifies rules for water and wastewater public corporations, including employee continuity protections
Gotchas
- The bill extinguishes most legal causes of action against the government, municipalities, Metrolinx, and related parties arising from the new transit fare and service integration rules, limiting the ability of transit agencies or others to sue over financial losses caused by fare changes or apportionment rules.
- Removing the requirement for official plans to address greenhouse gas emissions and climate change adaptation is a significant policy shift that may affect how municipalities plan for environmental risks.
- The ban on requiring EV charging infrastructure in parking facilities through zoning or site plan controls applies province-wide, overriding any existing or future municipal policies on this matter.
- The new fare apportionment rules for transit systems could significantly affect the revenues of individual transit agencies, as fares collected may need to be shared with other systems in the same geographic zone.
- The County of Simcoe's expanded role as an upper-tier municipality without planning responsibilities can be applied to different lower-tier municipalities at different times, allowing a phased and potentially uneven rollout of planning authority changes.
- Specialized transit systems for persons with disabilities are required to provide cross-boundary service to a prescribed distance, but the specific distance is left to future regulations, leaving the scope of this obligation undefined at the time of enactment.
Who's Affected
- Transit riders and transit agencies in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area and surrounding regions
- Non-profit organizations developing retirement homes
- Municipalities and their planning departments across Ontario
- Property developers and landowners subject to zoning and site plan rules
- Persons with disabilities who rely on specialized transit services
- Employees of municipal water and wastewater services being transferred to public corporations
- Metrolinx and regional transit operators
Vibes
0 responses
Gotchas
- The bill extinguishes most legal causes of action against the government, municipalities, Metrolinx, and related parties arising from the new transit fare and service integration rules, limiting the ability of transit agencies or others to sue over financial losses caused by fare changes or apportionment rules.
- Removing the requirement for official plans to address greenhouse gas emissions and climate change adaptation is a significant policy shift that may affect how municipalities plan for environmental risks.
- The ban on requiring EV charging infrastructure in parking facilities through zoning or site plan controls applies province-wide, overriding any existing or future municipal policies on this matter.
- The new fare apportionment rules for transit systems could significantly affect the revenues of individual transit agencies, as fares collected may need to be shared with other systems in the same geographic zone.
- The County of Simcoe's expanded role as an upper-tier municipality without planning responsibilities can be applied to different lower-tier municipalities at different times, allowing a phased and potentially uneven rollout of planning authority changes.
- Specialized transit systems for persons with disabilities are required to provide cross-boundary service to a prescribed distance, but the specific distance is left to future regulations, leaving the scope of this obligation undefined at the time of enactment.
Summary
Bill 98, the Building Homes and Improving Transportation Infrastructure Act, 2026, is a wide-ranging Ontario law that makes changes to housing development rules, transit systems, and municipal planning. It introduces a new Fare Alignment and Seamless Transit Act that gives the provincial Minister of Transportation power to set fare structures, create unified payment systems, and coordinate transit services across municipalities in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area and beyond. It also removes some local planning powers from municipalities, including the ability to require electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in parking facilities through zoning or site plan rules. On the housing side, the bill exempts non-profit retirement home developments from development charges, which are fees municipalities collect from developers to fund infrastructure. It also standardizes the format of official plans across Ontario, removes the requirement for official plans to include climate change mitigation goals, and limits how large municipalities can require residential lots to be. The County of Simcoe is also given expanded planning authority over certain lower-tier municipalities. The bill also makes changes to water and wastewater infrastructure rules, including new protections ensuring that shares of water and wastewater public corporations can only be held by governments, and that employees transferred to these corporations keep their employment rights. It was introduced by the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing as part of the provincial government's stated goal of removing barriers to building homes and improving transportation.
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Vibes
0 responses
Recorded Votes
| Date | Description | Yeas | Nays | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 14, 2026 | Motion for closure on the motion for Second Reading of Bill 98, An Act to enact the Fare Alignment and Seamless Transit Act, 2026 and to amend various Acts. | 72 | 33 | Carried |
| Apr 14, 2026 | Second Reading of Bill 98, An Act to enact the Fare Alignment and Seamless Transit Act, 2026 and to amend various Acts. | 89 | 16 | Carried |