Bill 212: Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act, 2024

The most directly affected businesses are utility companies (telecom, water, gas, electric) operating in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area and Niagara region, who can now be compelled by the Minister to relocate their infrastructure — poles, pipes, cables — for priority highway projects on a set timeline, with compensation limited to actual costs. Property owners and businesses along the Highway 413, Bradford Bypass, and Garden City Skyway corridors, including farms, commercial operations, and landowners in York, Peel, Halton, and Simcoe regions, face mandatory site inspections and potential expropriation with reduced appeal rights. Towing and roadside assistance operators across Ontario will now fall under restricted towing zone rules, requiring proper certification to operate in designated zones. Construction and trucking firms delivering to designated highway projects benefit from the override of municipal noise and road-use bylaws, enabling 24-hour construction logistics, while municipalities lose autonomy over bicycle lane decisions, affecting urban planning and cycling infrastructure businesses.