Ontario eyes further ban on green development standards, bigger fare evasion fines

Ontario is proposing to dramatically increase fines for fare evasion on GO Transit, allow rideshare services in some northern communities, and ban municipalities from requiring EV charging stations and other outdoor features as part of development standards.

The measures are among those being announced today by the housing and transportation ministers, as they table a new bill meant to make transit easier to build and access and speed up home building.

The government says fare evasion costs provincial transit agency Metrolinx about $21 million in lost revenue each year, so it is looking to increase the fare evasion fine from $35 to $200 on first offence, increasing on subsequent offences to $500.

It is also looking to expand its One Fare program that prevents transit riders from being charged a second fare when transferring between transit systems in the Greater Toronto Area by requiring transit agencies to adopt the same fare levels, and including Hamilton and Halton transit systems.

The legislation would build on a previous move by the province to block municipalities from imposing their own mandatory climate-friendly standards on building developers, and ban cities from requiring green outdoor standards, which officials say slow down the building process with different requirements in different municipalities.

The bill and associated measures also include previously announced steps to open high-occupancy vehicle lanes to all drivers in off-peak hours, set provincial minimum lot sizes, exempt non-profit retirement homes from development charges, break out development charges on agreements of home purchase and sale, and set a rideshare framework along the upcoming route for the Northlander train.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 30, 2026.