Harmonization of Municipal Road Construction Standards Phase 2

In November 2025, as part of the Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, 2025, the Public Transportation and Highway Improvement Act (PTHIA) was amended to support the harmonization of municipal road construction standards.

In August 2026, the Minister’s Regulation, O. Reg. 283/26 Standards for the Road Design and Construction was filed and: 

• Prescribed 61 OPSS.MUNI standards that will become mandatory for applicable municipal road projects where the procurement process commences on or after July 1, 2027,
• Established requirements related to OPSS.MUNI 100 General Conditions of Contract for applicable municipal road projects where the procurement process commences on or after July 1, 2028,
• Established an exemption process that allows a municipality to request an exemption from the requirement to conform to all or part of an applicable mandatory municipal road construction standard. The exemption provisions come into force January 1, 2027, and
• Established annual municipal reporting requirements which take effect starting April 1, 2028.

Standards for Municipal Road Construction:

While all OPSS.MUNI standards are within scope for harmonization, the Ministry of Transportation (the Ministry) is proceeding with a phased implementation approach. The initial regulation mandated 61 OPSS.MUNI technical standards and OPSS.MUNI 100 General Conditions of Contract. The current proposal would prescribe an additional 85 OPSS.MUNI standards.

It is proposed that the additional standards would apply to applicable municipal road projects for which the procurement process commences on or after July 1, 2028. This is in response to stakeholder feedback that a phased approach is needed to mitigate unintended consequences when mandating the use of standards, including potential project delays and cost impacts on projects already underway.

Exemption Process Policy and Form

Section 4 of O. Reg. 283/26 allows a municipality to request an exemption from the requirement to conform to all or part of an applicable mandatory municipal road construction standard. Section 4 comes into force January 1, 2027. Information about the exemption process is available for review on the Municipal Technical Consultation Portal.

The Ministry is seeking feedback to better understand the anticipated impacts of the proposed standards including potential costs, benefits and implementation considerations.

Details on the proposal can be found at Harmonization of Municipal Road Construction Standards Phase 2 | regulatoryregistry.gov.on.ca.

The Ministry is drafting an exemption policy and accompanying guide, which will be available for stakeholder review on the Municipal Technical Consultation Portal in early November.