November 17, 2025 Ministry…

November 17, 2025

Ministry of Transportation
Transit Strategy and Implementation Branch
777 Bay Street, 30th floor
Toronto, Ontario
M7A 2J3

Re: Bill 60 - Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, 2025 – Amendments to the Building Transit Faster Act, 2020

Peel Region appreciates the opportunity to comment on Bill 60 – Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, 2025 – Amendments to the Building Transit Faster Act, 2020. Peel Region is generally supportive of the Ministry’s intent to accelerate transit delivery and improve coordination.

The following comments and recommendations are offered for consideration to ensure effective coordination, minimize operational risks, and advance sustainable transit infrastructure. Several items build upon Peel Region’s previous comments on ERO 025-0450 (amendments to the Building Transit Faster Act, 2020 contained in Bill 17 – Protect Ontario by Building Faster and Smarter Act, 2025) and are reiterated where relevant.

PEEL REGION COMMENTS & RECOMMENDATIONS

Public Works Considerations:

Reduced Notice Periods for Obstruction Removal and Preview Inspections

The proposed reduction of notice periods from 30 days to 15 days raises operational concerns. Fifteen days may not be sufficient for a municipality such as Peel Region to procure qualified vendors to remove or abandon existing municipal infrastructure such as watermains, sanitary sewers, maintenance holes, valves, and hydrants. Similarly, it may be unreasonable for Peel to expect other utilities to meet such timelines. Accordingly, Peel Region recommends maintaining a notice period that reflects the complexity of municipal infrastructure work or establishing a flexible, case-by-case approach.

Expanded Municipal Service and Right-of-Way Access

The proposal to expand Part V to include relocation, alteration, and connections to municipal services and infrastructure requires clarity on timelines and processes. Short relocation periods could conflict with existing plans or projects, creating scheduling and budgetary challenges. Peel Region requests clarification on whether there will be:

•Clear timelines for ministerial orders;
•Case-by-case consideration based on resource constraints (such as staff or budget) for the execution of ministerial orders; and
•Defined escalation protocols to resolve conflicts without delaying transit or municipal projects.

Early Engagement and Agile Planning

As noted in Peel Region’s previous comments on ERO 025-0450, it is important to ensure Peel Region is brought into the process during the initial planning stage of a provincial priority project. This allows adequate time to understand the extent of Peel staff involvement, impact on Peel assets, and to put necessary work plans and agreements in place prior to work beginning. Changes require an agile approach to infrastructure planning, and as such the impact on Peel's current and planned infrastructure will need to be considered for all transit projects. Similarly, any relocation of or modification to municipal infrastructure should be managed closely with the impacted municipality to minimize or avoid potential negative unintended impacts.

Traffic Management Coordination

As stated in Peel Region’s previous comments regarding ERO 025-0450, coordination on traffic management remains critical. Peel Region requests that the Ministry work with Peel to assess temporary traffic impacts during construction of higher-order transit infrastructure. Any deployment and operation of temporary traffic control signals within a construction zone should be integrated with the surrounding traffic control signal network to avoid spillback queuing caused by uncoordinated signals.

Environmental and Public Health Recommendations:

Integration of Sustainable Transportation Infrastructure

Peel Region recommends that transit projects incorporate electric vehicle charging infrastructure to support current and future EV adoption. This aligns with provincial climate goals and facilitates sustainable first mile/last mile travel.

Transit Route Planning

Transit routes should be planned to encourage public transit use and reduce car dependency. Integrating land-use planning with the expansion of transit infrastructure will help reduce emissions and alleviate traffic congestion.

Environmental Standards

Building on Peel Region’s previous comments on ERO 025-0450, Peel Region encourages the Ministry to adopt measurable, enforceable environmental standards. Strategies should include:

•Risk-based approaches with transparent metrics for assessing significant impacts;
•Replanting strategies that account for ecological equivalence, restoring lost ecosystem functions rather than simply replacing tree counts; and
•Clear targets and timelines for greenhouse gas reduction, aligned with climate-science pathways.

Public Health Considerations

Peel recommends embedding public health considerations during early planning and consultation stages to ensure transit projects support physical activity, road safety, and health equity. This approach aligns with Ontario Public Health Standards and helps ensure that accelerated delivery does not compromise healthy community development. As noted in Peel Region’s previous comments on ERO 025-0450, these considerations remain critical for building healthy, resilient communities.

CONCLUSION

Peel Region asks that the Ministry consider the comments provided herein to inform its decisions on the proposed amendments and any further related legislation.

Your consideration of our comments is greatly appreciated. If you have any questions or require more information, please contact me at miriam.polga@peelregion.ca.

Kind Regards,

Miriam Polga

Director, Transportation (A)
Region of Peel, Public Works