Ontario aims to address delays in the municipal approval process as part of a broader plan to tackle the escalating housing crisis, but it sets aside many of the more controversial proposals put forward by its affordability task force.

The "More Homes for Everyone" plan released by the Ford government at Queen's Park was unveiled for the first time Wednesday afternoon today.

It includes dozens of actionable proposals, many of which aim to reduce bureaucracy and accelerate the approval process as a means to speed up development.

However, the plan omits many of the recommendations made by the Ford government’s housing affordability task force in a report released last month, including the elimination of municipal policies that prioritize preserving the "neighborhood advantage" in planning decisions.

Also notably absent is the task force recommendation that would have allowed so-called proper zoning split, which automatically permits developers to build up to four units in a maximum of four stories on a single residential lot.

Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark told reporters at Queen's Park on Wednesday, "We have to work with 444 municipalities in Ontario and we've heard very clearly that the recommendations may have been a bit bold for some communities." "So we’ll have to go back and consult with them and work with them because if we want to address the housing crisis in Ontario, we need to have municipalities on our side."

On the same subject, Clark said, "While the 55 recommendations made by the task force would serve as a 'long-term roadmap' to address affordability in Ontario, the bill introduced today provides an opportunity for some 'immediate changes' to start building faster."

If the law is approved, the plan will amend the City of Toronto Act and the Regional Planning Act so that issues of "site plan control," which relate to development compatibility with the surrounding neighborhood, are decided by city staff and not council members.

It is worth noting that the Toronto City Council already delegates "site plan control" decisions to planning staff, but currently, the ward councilor is allowed to request that any application be decided instead by the city council.

Further regulatory changes will then be implemented in 2023 requiring municipalities to make rezoning decisions within a defined time frame.

Under the new timelines imposed by the provinces, municipalities will be required by law to refund 50 percent of rezoning fees if they do not make a decision within 90 days. They will then have to refund 75 percent of the fees if no decision is made within 150 days and 100 percent of the fees if there is no decision after 210 days.

Officials say the goal of the change is to help speed up reorganization decisions, which currently take an average of nine to 25 months in the GTA and inflate costs unnecessarily.

In fact, they point to a study conducted by the Ontario Association of Architects which indicates that the cost of delay between site plan application and approval amounts to $1,930 per month per unit in a 100-unit residential building.

Clark said, "We need to build more homes, we need to start getting on the ground faster, and all of our consultations have acknowledged that building housing takes a long time."

In addition to regulatory changes aimed at reducing bureaucracy at the municipal level, the Ontario government also promises an investment of $19 million to help the Ontario Land Tribunal and the Landlord and Tenant Board reduce case backlogs.

The Ford government also proposes several changes to the Building Code, which it says will "save costs for homebuyers and tenants."

These laws include allowing massive 12-story wood buildings and discovering certain ways to come up with mid-rise buildings between four and six stories.