Follow the Leader: How British Columbia is Modernizing Permitting While Ontario Stalls
Ontario’s fragmented development approval process has long been a challenge for developers, planners, and municipalities. With over 440 municipalities, each with unique standards, navigating approvals can feel like an impossible maze. The lack of consistency leads to delays, higher costs, and missed housing opportunities—worsening the housing crisis.
In 2020, One Ontario was launched with a clear vision: to advocate for a centralized, standardized system for development applications in Ontario. The goal was to modernize approvals, cut red tape, and increase efficiency—a model that has worked in places like Singapore, the UK, and Finland. But while other jurisdictions moved forward, Ontario has fallen behind.
Balancing sustainability with efficiency is the cornerstone of thriving communities. However, achieving sustainability shouldn’t mean piling on costly regulations that stifle progress. Instead, integrating smart technology, data-driven insights, and streamlined approvals can create greener, more livable neighborhoods without unnecessary red tape. When sustainability and efficiency work together seamlessly, everyone benefits.
Ontario’s Hesitation and the Case for Standardization
Ontario’s approval process isn’t just fragmented—it’s disjointed at every level.
A single complex project in Toronto can involve 30 or more agencies, each using different systems, different processes, and no standardized data. To make matters worse, even within a single municipality, departments often rely on incompatible systems that don’t communicate with one another.
The only consistent standard across Ontario’s development ecosystem? Email and fax. This outdated system makes transparency, coordination, and efficiency nearly impossible.
Recognizing this, One Ontario spent four years engaging provincial ministries, industry leaders, and municipalities, pushing for a unified digital approach.
Despite widespread industry support, provincial policymakers failed to act. The urgency of standardization was either misunderstood or ignored, leaving developers, planners, and municipalities to struggle with a system that simply doesn’t work.
British Columbia: A Province That Gets It
While Ontario has stalled, British Columbia is taking action. Through our advocacy efforts, One Ontario engaged in discussions with BC’s Minister of Housing. The difference was clear: BC recognized that centralizing approvals would reduce inefficiencies and accelerate housing construction.
The result? The Building Permit Hub—a province-wide digital permitting system designed to standardize approvals and eliminate red tape. BC’s Housing Minister acknowledged what Ontario has yet to act on: the traditional permitting process is “slow and complicated” and a major obstacle to solving the housing crisis.
The Building Permit Hub is being developed as a "one-stop shop" for local permits, simplifying approvals for homebuilders, municipalities, and First Nations. The system is expected to significantly reduce costs and wait times, modernizing the development process across the province. They’ve already begun a pilot with 12 municipalities and two First Nations governments and plan to expand province-wide. By automating compliance checks and standardizing submission requirements, BC is creating a consistent, predictable system—exactly what Ontario desperately needs but refuses to implement.
We hope that Ontario follows the leader, and One Ontario is ready to help.
Standardizing the Data First
One Ontario’s journey revealed a fundamental truth: A centralized system alone won’t solve Ontario’s approval crisis—because the data itself is broken.
Even if Ontario built a province-wide permitting platform tomorrow, the lack of standardized, clean, and accessible data would undermine its effectiveness. This realization led to the creation of LandLogic, a data platform that normalizes and harmonizes fragmented land-use data across jurisdictions.
Through its Data Fusion Engine, LandLogic integrates zoning, infrastructure, environmental, and demographic information into a single, reliable source of truth for developers, planners, and realtors. It creates the data standard needed to streamline the process across jurisdictions. By integrating LandLogic’s standardized data into a central permitting system, the efficiency and effectiveness of a provincial system would increase exponentially.
The impact?
Faster site selection and risk assessment. Clearer pre-construction insights, reducing costly surprises. A more efficient, data-driven approach to approvals. While Ontario lags on adopting a centralized approval system, LandLogic is already providing practical solutions to streamline development.
Ontario’s New Government: A Chance to Catch Up
Premier Ford now has a fresh mandate. This is not just an opportunity—it’s an obligation to finally fix Ontario’s broken approval process. The housing crisis won’t solve itself, and the excuses for inaction have run out.
Premier Doug Ford now has the authority and responsibility to act. No more sitting on the sidelines. No more tippytoeing around bureaucratic red tape. British Columbia, Singapore, and the UK are already leveraging standardized systems to streamline development, while Ontario remains stuck in outdated, inefficient processes. The solutions exist right here—developed in Ontario, for Ontario. Other provinces and countries are adopting homegrown innovations while we continue to delay.
Enough is enough. It’s time to stop looking elsewhere and start leading. Ontario needs its own Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) equivalent, a bold, decisive move toward a standardized, province-wide system. We have the expertise, the technology, and the industry support. The only missing piece is the political will to make it happen.
Call to Action: It’s Time for Ontario to Follow BC’s Lead
The Ontario government must act. A centralized, standardized development approval system is long overdue. With a new government mandate, the time to act is now. One Ontario, backed by LandLogic’s data capabilities, is ready to collaborate with the province to normalize development data and streamline approvals.
By following BC’s lead and adopting a province-wide system, Ontario can finally remove barriers, lower costs, and accelerate housing construction.
The time for hesitation is over. The housing crisis won’t wait. And neither should Ontario.
For more information:
Arash Shahi
Chief Executive Officer
Arash@aecoinnovationlab.com
