November 5, 2025 - The Ontario government’s latest omnibus Bill 60, dubbed the Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, has cyclists, renters, environmentalists and municipalities back in the trenches fighting for their rights reports CBC and other outlets.
Cycling advocates note that this is the third time in just over a year that the Ford government has attempted to micromanage the placement of bike lanes under municipal control. “Bill 60 would essentially act as a ban on new bike lanes across the province if they remove a lane of vehicle traffic,” said Cycle Toronto executive director Michael Longfield.
Cycle Toronto successfully defended 19 kilometres of protected bike lanes in court against the Ontario government’s Bill 212, Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act, 2024. But with Bill 212 “only a ‘prescribed municipality’ requires ministerial approval for bike lanes. To date, no municipalities have been prescribed, nor have any regulations been issued outlining any criteria for approvals. Today’s announcement [Bill 60] makes clear there was never any intent to provide any regulations,” states Cycle Toronto’s press release.
“Bill 60 would take power away from people and their communities and give it to cars. Bill 212 at least pretended it would set criteria for new bike lanes. Bill 60 drops the pretense. It lets the Province ban any reduction of motor vehicle lanes, and the wording is so broad that it will not just impact bike lanes but also affect bus priority lanes, patios, school streets, and other street improvements that rely on reallocating space. This isn’t just about settling grudges against Toronto. The consequences will be felt across Ontario.” – read more here and via The Biking Lawyer here.
The province says it’s aiming at making conditions more favourable for builders to address the housing crisis, while opponents claim that the changes the bill proposes would hurt tenant’s rights, giving them less time to appeal decisions at the Landlord Tenant Board, and landlords a shorter timeline to have eviction proceedings heard.
Transit advocates are also sounding the alarm about the vague nature of the wording in the legislation around the bike lanes. TTCRiders executive director Andrew Pulsifer said he’s concerned the legislation will give Ontario’s transportation minister the power to veto other lane uses, including dedicated transit lanes – read more here.
NDP Leader Marit Stiles accused the government of “flooding the zone” in order to suppress pushback against the bill telling CBC, “This has been this government’s tactic for years. Omnibus bills that are full of all kinds of measures, and you have to spend hours and hours and days and days to go through them. And it divides everyone. It divides the attention of the public.”
On Nov. 5 the Ford government announced that Bill 60 will skip the committee stage and go straight to Third Reading after Second Reading – a clear affront to the democratic process – read more here.
Submit your comments vs Bill 60 here – every submission becomes part of the public record. Comments are open until November 22, 2025.
Read the CBC report here.
