Ontario Construction Report staff writer
Ontario’s civil infrastructure construction associations are welcoming the provincial government’s recent announcement that it will begin consultations with municipalities and industry partners to harmonize road construction standards. The consultations are part of Bill 17, the Protect Ontario by Building Faster and Smarter Act, 2025.
The Toronto and Area Road Builders Association (TARBA), the Greater Toronto Sewer and Watermain Contractors Association (GTSWCA), and the Heavy Construction Association of Toronto (HCAT) have long advocated for consistent construction standards across the province.
They argue that aligning municipal practices with provincial guidelines—jointly managed by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation and the Municipal Engineers Association—will reduce construction costs, shorten timelines, and improve overall efficiency.
“This announcement strengthens the government’s commitment to cutting red tape and accelerating the delivery of critical infrastructure,” said Raly Chakarova, Executive Director of TARBA. “By harmonizing construction practices across municipal boundaries, we can build faster and smarter—particularly by standardizing and increasing the use of Recycled Crushed Aggregates, which also supports sustainability goals.”
Currently, Ontario’s 444 municipalities own and manage more public infrastructure than the provincial and federal governments combined. On average, more than half of municipal budgets are allocated to infrastructure and construction. However, each municipality has developed its own standards for common projects such as roads, bridges, watermains, and sewers—leading to hundreds of differing requirements across the province
“This is the time for the provincial and federal governments to step in and ensure that municipalities have predictable and continuous infrastructure funding to get projects out the door, shovels in the ground, and keep everyone employed,” said Peter Smith, Executive Director at HCAT. “But municipalities need to drop their own barriers. There is no reason that a different asphalt type or watermain fitting needs to be used simply because a project crosses over Steeles Ave.”
The patchwork of rules not only drives up costs for taxpayers but also lowers productivity, increases waste, and contributes to higher carbon emissions.
GTSWCA executive director Patrick McManus called the move a “pivotal moment” for Ontario’s infrastructure sector.
“Standardizing construction specifications and contract frameworks will help control rising costs and support more efficient, long-term infrastructure investment—without changing the fundamentals of how we build or maintain our core infrastructure.”
“By standardizing construction specifications and contracts, we can reign in rising construction costs and lay the groundwork for sustainable growth and cost-effective infrastructure solutions, without fundamentally altering how we design, build, finance, or maintain our critical core infrastructure in the region,” he said.