Ontario’s Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing has requested public input on opportunities to reduce unnecessary regulatory burden in Ontario’s Building Code. The Pembina Institute encourages the Government of Ontario to continue harmonization with National Model Codes to reduce regulatory burden for firms working across jurisdictions and support affordability for households and businesses across the building lifespan.
Key Recommendations
The Pembina Institute recommended that the Building Code Short-Term Advisory Body urge the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to:
- Deepen harmonization with National Model Codes to unlock the full economic benefit of building code modernization.
- Adopt the full suite of tiers of the National Building Code (NBC) and National Energy Code for Buildings (NECB) and replace SB-10 and SB-12 to enhance business and household affordability over the lifetime of the building.
- Prepare the province for upper-tier adoption of National Model Code, which have been developed by industry experts, including input from both the province and Ontario code representatives.
- Align code harmonization with modern approaches and tools like standardized permitting tools and virtual inspections to save time and cut costs.
Background
Op-ed: Buildings can be a demand-side driver for Canada’s National Electricity Strategy
Article: Ontario’s development changes could risk energy affordability and economic opportunity
Article: “Affordable housing” isn’t affordable unless it’s energy efficient
