Proposed Regulation to streamline planning approvals for Kindergarten to Grade 12 (K-12) publicly funded schools under the Planning Act

The government is seeking feedback on a proposed regulation under the Planning Act to help make it easier and faster for publicly funded school boards to obtain municipal planning approvals for schools across the province to support complete communities. 

We welcome your thoughts on the following changes proposed as part of a regulation to streamline planning approvals for K-12 publicly funded schools.

Steps Taken to Date

Bill 185

As part of Bill 185, regulation-making authority under the Planning Act was created to enable a streamlined approval pathway for prescribed class(es) of “community service facility” projects. A regulation under this authority would support the creation of complete communities, which should in turn limit unanticipated capital cost increases arising from lengthy approval timelines.

The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH) and the Ministry of Education (EDU) have committed to begin with exploring a streamlined approvals process for K-12 publicly funded schools where the province has a key funding and oversight role.

Bill 17

As part of the broader approach to streamline municipal land use approvals for publicly funded school sites, Bill 17, the Protect Ontario by Building Faster and Smarter Act, 2025, became law on June 5, 2025.

Schedules 3 and 7 of Bill 17 made various changes to the Planning Act and City of Toronto Act, 2006, including: 

• Exempting the placement of portable classrooms at all publicly funded school sites from site plan control, no matter when the school site was established; and
• Providing explicit permission for the use of K-12 publicly funded schools and ancillary uses (such as associated childcare) “as-of-right” on municipally-serviced urban land zoned for residential uses. 

Bill 17 also amended the Building Code Act, 1992 to clarify that municipalities do not have the authority to pass by-laws that establish construction or demolition standards. This confirmed that municipalities cannot use provisions in the Municipal Act, 2001, City of Toronto Act, 2006 and Planning Act, including site plan control, to create and require construction or demolition standards for buildings, including schools. This includes but is not limited to local green building standards or green development standards as they pertain to the construction of a building, including any energy efficiency requirements.

Existing Process

Certain aspects of the municipal planning approval process impact the length of time and costs associated with publicly funded school board construction of new K-12 schools as well as additions to existing K-12 schools.

Proposed Contents of a Regulation

The regulation being proposed seeks to build on previous legislative changes by speeding up the approvals process for K-12 publicly funded schools, while ensuring the health-related, safety-related and functional aspects of a school site are addressed.

Based on feedback received through the ERO posting associated with Bill 185 (#019-8369) and from consultation with education and municipal stakeholders, the government is proposing a regulation that focuses the planning approvals process on the health and safety aspects in accessing a publicly funded school site and recognizing school board expertise in child safety. 

This proposed regulation would apply to school sites on land outside of the Greenbelt Area, as defined in the Greenbelt Act, 2005, to ensure that the regulation does not override the special agricultural and environmental requirements applicable to the Protected Countryside of the Greenbelt.

As proposed, this regulation would apply only to publicly funded stand-alone K-12 school buildings. Due to unique challenges, this regulation would not apply to schools that are integrated with other developments (e.g., podium schools integrated within a condominium).

The ministry is also not proposing to apply this regulation to the co-location of school buildings with municipal facilities such as community centres or libraries. The ministry welcomes your input on this approach and whether the proposed regulation should apply to co-located school/municipal buildings. 

1. Zoning: Exempt Publicly Funded School Builds from Certain Municipal Zoning By-law Requirements

Stakeholders have expressed that zoning by-laws are generally not permissive to facilitate publicly funded school builds. School boards can often be required to undertake either re-zoning or minor variance applications, which can increase costs and overall project timelines.

Proposed Contents of a Regulation

It is proposed that the following elements of municipal zoning by-laws would be inapplicable to publicly funded school builds:

• Minimum and maximum building height;
• Minimum and maximum density (often described as floor space index or floor area ratio);
• Minimum and maximum lot coverage (the percentage of lot area covered by buildings);
• Minimum and maximum setbacks; and
• Parking requirements (quantity, both minimum and maximum)

2. Complete Application Requirements for Publicly Funded School Site Plan Approvals

The Planning Act and its regulations set out minimum requirements for the information that must be submitted with various planning applications. Currently, municipalities can also require information or materials in addition to minimum provincial requirements for site plan applications as set out in their official plan policies.

A planning application is considered “complete” when it contains all the information required in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Planning Act, namely the information required by the relevant Minister’s regulation(s) and any additional materials set out in the applicable official plan.

Complete application requirements ensure the information needed to assess planning applications is included with the application to enable municipalities to make timely decisions.

Proposed Contents of a Regulation

The government is looking to create more consistent and predictable requirements across municipalities for K-12 publicly funded school site plan approvals. Proposed changes would address complete application requirements that are not fundamental to building publicly funded schools and would leverage publicly funded school board expertise in child safety.

As part of the proposed regulation, it is proposed that information, including studies concerning the following subject matters could not be required as part of a complete application for a site plan approval for a K-12 publicly funded school:

• The massing and conceptual design of the proposed building
• Building elevations
• Urban design
• Landscaping and planting
• Tree management and preservation
• Lighting
• Environmental impacts

Note: In connection with Bill 98, the proposed Building Homes and Improving Transportation Infrastructure Act, 2026, the government is seeking feedback on a proposed standardized list of information that planning authorities can require for complete applications. This work is ongoing and would be applicable to all municipalities across Ontario. The proposed regulation for K-12 publicly funded schools is separate from this work and is specific to planning approvals for K-12 publicly funded schools. https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/026-0313

3. Conditions of Site Plan Approval

Municipalities have the authority through subsections 41(7) and (8) of the Planning Act and subsection 114(11) of the City of Toronto Act, 2006 to include conditions to site plan approvals addressing specific matters, including certain infrastructure, transportation, and environmental matters.

This means that as part of a site plan approval, a municipality can impose conditions that the proponent will need to address. These conditions may include pre- and post-approval requirements and agreements and may include conditions related to widenings of roads that border the subject land, how to access the property, and parking and loading facilities (e.g. waste management).

Proposed Contents of a Regulation

Based on the proposal to create more consistent and predictable complete application requirements across municipalities for K-12 publicly funded school site plan approvals, the government is proposing to standardize municipal authority to impose conditions for K-12 publicly funded school builds. 

It is proposed that the following would be removed as allowable conditions of site plan approval for K-12 publicly funded schools:

• Provision of facilities for the lighting, including floodlighting, of the land or of any buildings or structures thereon; and
• Provision of hedges, trees, shrubs or other groundcover or facilities for the landscaping of the lands on a school site.

K-12 publicly funded school boards may still need to meet municipal by-law requirements for specific aspects of a site (e.g., lighting and tree planting) outside of the site plan approvals process.

As part of Bill 98, the proposed Building Homes and Improving Transportation Infrastructure Act, 2026, changes are proposed to the Planning Act, Municipal Act, 2001, Building Code Act, 1992 and the City of Toronto Act, 2006 that would have the effect of removing municipal authority to require certain enhanced development standards at the lot level (e.g. green development standards) not required for health, safety, accessibility or protection of adjoining lands (e.g. stormwater management). If passed, these amendments would apply to all developments, including K-12 publicly funded schools. https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/026-0310 

4. Small Additions 

There is currently no size differentiation in site plan approval requirements for additions to existing K-12 publicly funded school facilities.

Proposed Contents of a Regulation

The regulation proposes to exempt additions to K-12 publicly funded schools from site plan control where the proposed addition is no more than fifteen per cent (15%) of the total gross floor area (GFA) of the existing school building.

Small additions would still need to meet requirements of the Ontario Building Code at the building permit stage as well as other applicable municipal by-laws and regulations.

5. Guidance

To support this regulation, it is proposed that guidance will be developed to help clarify the existing land use planning process and Planning Act requirements. It would also support the implementation of the proposed regulation and detail how it streamlines planning approvals for K-12 publicly funded schools.

Impact on the Environment

The proposed regulation, if passed, is anticipated to have a neutral impact on the environment as it would streamline zoning and site plan approvals processes for development on lands designated for school development, while maintaining protections for areas such as the Greenbelt and continuing to restrict the development of schools on hazardous lands.

Analysis of Regulatory Impact

Building on previous legislative changes under Bill 17, the proposed contents of this regulation are anticipated to further support streamlining land use planning processes, creating more certainty in land use approvals for K-12 publicly funded school boards. This could result in time and cost savings on a project-by-project basis for K-12 publicly funded school boards.

The proposed regulation would benefit Ontarians broadly, as it is intended to make it easier and faster to build new K-12 publicly funded schools, which are important facilities in the development of complete communities.

Provide Feedback

We welcome your thoughts on the contents of this proposed regulation.