Bill 60: More bad news for bike lanes
On November 24, 2025, Bill 60, Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, passed Third Reading at Queen’s Park. It’s likely that by the time you read this, it has also received Royal Assent.
Bill 60 was fast tracked through the legislative process, skipping committee hearings and using a time allocation motion to keep debate short. The omnibus bill contained a lot of big changes, and has been widely criticized for making it easier for landlords to evict tenants, scrapping Toronto’s green roof policy, and prohibiting municipalities from building bike lanes that reduce the number of motor vehicle travel lanes.
I join in this chorus of criticism and am concerned about the impact this bill will have on people across this province. For the purposes of this blog, I am going to focus specifically on the outcomes for bicycle lanes.
Bill 60 vs. Bill 212
Bill 60 builds on last year’s Bill 212. I have written extensively about Bill 212, what’s in it, and the lack of evidence tying bicycle lanes to traffic congestion on my blog. As a quick recap, Bill 212:
Amended the Highway Traffic Act to require that prescribed municipalities get approval from the Ministry of Transportation before building any bike lanes that would reduce the number of motor vehicle travel lanes.
Allowed for the Minister of Transportation to make regulations about which municipalities were impacted by the Bill and what criteria would be used to review and approve bicycle lanes.
Allowed the Minister to request traffic information on existing bicycle lanes that removed lanes for motor vehicles and require their removal.
Required the province to remove sections of the Bloor Street, Yonge Street, and University Avenue bike lanes in Toronto.
What’s different now?
Well, first let’s start with a reminder about the good news - Cycle Toronto’s win in court against the province’s plan to remove bike lanes. The ruling was specifically about the requirement for the province to remove bike lanes on Bloor, Yonge, and University (and not the other provisions of Bill 212) and the court found that it violated the Charter right to life, liberty, and security of the person because it would have put cyclists at increased risk. The province has appealed this decision, more information from Cycle Toronto here.
That’s where the good news ends though. Here’s my understanding of some of the Bill 60 changes:
Bill 60 applies to all municipalities in Ontario. Bill 212 had allowed for municipalities to be “prescribed” into requirements instead of automatically applying everywhere.
Bill 60 removes the approval process for bicycle lanes that reduce travel lanes for motor vehicles. No more approvals process, they just cannot be built.
Now, it had seemed pretty unlikely to me that the Province was going to be able to develop approvals criteria for bicycle lanes anyway. I was of the opinion that they may just let the cloud of Bill 212 hang over us indefinitely, never creating an approvals process. This would chill bike lane construction in many communities and provide anti bike lane advocates with a tool for opposing them. A year after passing Bill 212, the Province no longer sees a need for an approvals process. As much as I was doubtful that there would ever be one, it is still incredibly disappointing to see us move into a full ban instead.
The other big change I noted was its application to all municipalities. Bill 212 presented the possibility that the bike lane approvals process would only apply to certain municipalities, and that others could carry on as usual. That being said, it would have been possible for anyone opposing a bike lane in an un-prescribed municipality to raise their concern with their MPP or the Minister and have them prescribed in.
At the end of the day, Bill 60 mostly just takes away the “hope” that a bike lane that removes traffic lanes for motor vehicles could get approval, or that the approvals process may not apply to every municipality. Perhaps the flip side to this is that we are no longer pretending there is a convoluted process for building bike lanes that remove motor vehicle lanes and just stating simply that the province is against their construction.
What’s Next
There is no immediate path to reversing these changes. We have a majority government in Ontario and the Bill has passed. But I believe that when something is wrong, you speak up and say something, even if you don’t see any immediate path for change.
I am incredibly grateful for Cycle Toronto and all of the organizations leading the ongoing opposition to Bill 212. We don’t know what will happen with the upcoming appeals process but regardless, it mattered to me to hear a court say that the Province had no evidence that removing bike lanes would reduce traffic congestion, and that in fact they knew it would put lives at risk.
Cycle Toronto has also been at the forefront of opposition to Bill 60, recently organizing a solidarity ride to Queen’s Park with housing advocates. This is important movement building and I love to see it.
Other next steps include:
Helping to track projects affected by Bill 60: Advocates are compiling a spreadsheet to better understand how this Bill impacts bike lane construction across the province. If you are aware of impacted projects in your community, or if municipal staff release a list of impacted projects like this one from the City of Ottawa, share it with Cycle Toronto and contribute to the tracking.
Sign the Progress Toronto petition: Progress Toronto has a petition opposing the changes to renter protections in Bill 60.
Supporting bike lanes locally: Despite these provincial changes, it is important that your elected representatives know there is demand for cycling. Share positive experiences with your representatives and staff, show up to delegate in support of cycling projects and at budget time, support local events and campaigns, and talk to your neighbours about cycling and mobility issues. Doing this on social media is good, but we also need to do this through more direct communications (e.g., email, phone, and in-person).
Election volunteering: These bills really show the importance of being represented by politicians who understand the value of cycling. Show up and support those candidates at election time by phone banking, door knocking, and donating. If your municipal, provincial, and federal candidates participate in door knocking between elections, join in for that too! It’s an amazing way to connect with other volunteers and understand what matters to your neighbours.
Supporting cycling advocacy: Organizations like Cycle Toronto and Vélo Canada Bikes are working hard to advocate for cycling, alongside local cycling advocacy organizations across the country. Make a donation to support their work if you can, and renew or join as a member.