Bill 60 and the related Bill 216 amendments change two Ontario systems in 2026. On the construction side, Construction Act changes that took effect January 1, 2026 include mandatory annual release of holdback, an expanded and more flexible adjudication regime for payment disputes, and refinements to the prompt payment rules. On the planning side, Bill 60 amends the Planning Act by extending the concept of as-of-right variances, delegating approval of certain official plan amendments within Protected Major Transit Station Areas to local authorities, allowing upper-tier municipalities to adopt Community Improvement Plans, and expanding ministerial authority. Contractors should update contract templates and payment administration; developers should watch for faster variance and station-area approval paths.
Bill 60 is really two reforms wearing one bill number. For contractors, it continues the modernization of the Construction Act: how holdback is released, how payment disputes get resolved, and how the prompt payment clock runs. For developers, it amends the Planning Act in ways that keep pushing Ontario toward as-of-right approvals. If you build, or get built for, in Ontario, both halves touch your cash flow and your timeline in 2026.
Construction Act amendments introduced through Bill 216 and Bill 60 came into force on January 1, 2026. The changes that matter most on a live project:
| Change | What it means on a project |
|---|---|
| Mandatory annual holdback release | Holdback is released on an annual cycle rather than accumulating to the end of a multi-year job, which changes financing needs on long projects |
| Expanded adjudication | The interim binding dispute process covers a wider range of disputes and is available with more flexibility, including beyond the old contract-completion cutoff |
| Prompt payment refinements | The proper invoice and payment timeline machinery is tightened, keeping the 28-day owner payment clock at the centre of payment administration |
The practical consequence: contract templates, payment certification workflows, and holdback accounting written for the pre-2026 Act are now out of date. Owners carrying multi-year projects need to fund holdback release annually. Contractors gain a faster, cheaper path to force payment disputes to an interim decision instead of waiting for litigation or arbitration after substantial performance.
Before the contract stage, know the approvals: PreBuildIQ maps any Ontario address to its approval path and required studies in 60 seconds.
Check my site →On the approvals side, Bill 60 continues the direction set by Bill 17 and Bill 98: fewer discretionary decision points, more delegation, more as-of-right. The headline amendments:
For a developer, the near-term significance is concentrated in the first two items. A project inside a PMTSA that needed an upper-tier or provincial sign-off on an OPA may now face a shorter chain. And a project whose only zoning gap is a modest dimensional shortfall may, as regulations roll out, skip the variance hearing entirely.
Several Bill 60 planning measures depend on regulations to define scope, including which variances become as-of-right. Track the Environmental Registry of Ontario postings before assuming a hearing can be skipped.
Together with Bill 216, Bill 60's Construction Act amendments came into force January 1, 2026. The headline changes are mandatory annual release of holdback, a broader and more flexible adjudication regime for payment disputes, and refinements to the prompt payment and proper invoice rules. Contracts and payment workflows drafted for the pre-2026 Act need updating.
Adjudication is the Construction Act's interim binding dispute process: a qualified adjudicator decides a payment dispute on a fast timetable, the decision is binding on an interim basis, and the parties can still litigate or arbitrate later. The 2026 changes expand what can be adjudicated and when, including more flexibility around the old contract-completion cutoff.
Instead of statutory holdback accumulating until the end of the project, the amended Act requires holdback to be released on an annual cycle on longer projects. Owners need to fund the release each year, and contractors and subcontractors see retained funds return earlier, which materially changes financing costs on multi-year work.
Bill 60 extends the concept of as-of-right variances, allows delegation of certain official plan amendment approvals within Protected Major Transit Station Areas to local authorities, permits upper-tier municipalities to adopt Community Improvement Plans, and expands ministerial authority. Several measures depend on regulations to define their practical scope.
Potentially, for some variances, once the as-of-right variance measures and their regulations are in effect. The direction of travel is that modest, prescribed dimensional variances will not require a Committee of Adjustment hearing. Until the regulations define the scope, confirm with the municipality whether your specific variance still needs a hearing.
PreBuildIQ maps any Ontario address to its approval bodies, required studies, and current zoning in 60 seconds, so you can see which of the new fast paths your project can actually use.
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