A provincial law that received Royal Assent this summer is changing how new housing and infrastructure projects move through the approval process in Ontario municipalities — including fast-growing towns like Caledon.
Bill 98, the Building Homes and Improving Transportation Act, 2026, was introduced on March 30, 2026 by the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, according to Davies Howe LLP, a law firm that analyzed the legislation in a series of blog posts. The bill received Royal Assent on June 2, 2026, with some elements taking effect immediately and others coming into force later.
Municipal powers scaled back
The firm's analysis says several of the amendments adopted immediately "significantly curtail municipal authority over development standards" and over land. For towns such as Caledon, where council decisions on zoning, site standards and servicing have long shaped how subdivisions are built, the changes shift more of that control to the province.
Bill 98 also standardizes the requirements for what constitutes a complete application when municipalities amend their official plans — a change that affects how quickly development proposals must be processed.
New parkland rules
The law makes substantial changes to how municipalities collect and count parkland from developers, including new provisions dealing with encumbered land and with parks or publicly owned properties (POPs) being used to satisfy parkland requirements, the firm reported.
Those new parkland rules officially came into force on July 1, 2026, the date set out in Order in Council 933/2026. For a town that has leaned on parkland dedication as subdivisions expand into former farmland, the new framework changes what land counts toward a community's green space.
Other provincial changes affecting land use
Bill 98 is one of several recent provincial moves that reshape how land is developed and protected in Ontario. On March 30, 2026 — the same day Bill 98 was introduced — the province repealed the Endangered Species Act, 2007 and replaced it with the new Species Conservation Act, 2025, according to Davies Howe LLP.
The shift matters in Caledon, where conservation of wetlands, woodlands and wildlife habitat has factored into land-use decisions across the town's rural and moraine landscapes.
The provincial changes arrive as municipalities across the Greater Toronto Area continue to work through housing targets and growth pressures. The full effect of Bill 98's phased provisions on local planning in Caledon will become clearer as the remaining sections come into force.
