On Wednesday, the Ontario government introduced ‘The Building Infrastructure Safely Act, 2023.’ This new law essentially, makes it illegal for utility companies that own the gas lines or cable lines under your property, to charge a fee to locate those lines.
Right now, if a home owner needs to dig on their property to plant a tree, or if a home builder wants to build a house, they need to call the utilities companies for them to check to make sure there are no lines underground. These companies have been charging a fee, which the government is going to ban with this new bill.
By introducing the Building Infrastructure Safely Act, 2023, we’re taking the necessary steps to modernize Ontario and pave the way to enhanced public safety, keeping costs down & getting vital infrastructure built for our citizens and businesses alike.#onpoli #infrastructure pic.twitter.com/wGJj8yQwjF
— Todd McCarthy (@ToddJMcCarthy) November 22, 2023
“We need to build critical infrastructure faster and smarter to support our growing communities,” said Todd McCarthy, Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery.
“Banning locate fees would stem the possibility of spiralling costs that delay construction projects and increase costs. Our bill, if passed, would help streamline the process to ensure projects like improving transit, connecting more people to high-speed internet and getting homes built move ahead more efficiently.”
The government believes this new law will help the province get homes built faster. Ontario is on a mission to get 1.5 million homes built by the year 2030.
The government also plans to bring forward regulations to streamline the processes by cutting down the number of times a locate needs to be repeated.
Commentary
This bill is a good idea. Anything to help build houses faster in Ontario. Hopefully this will help to bring down the cost of building a home.
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