Summary#

Bill 24, the Plan to Protect Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2025, amends existing Ontario laws and creates the Ontario Loan Act, 2025 and the Members of Executive Council Recognition Act, 2025. It has received Royal Assent, but some changes start later or require an order to take effect. Its stated goal is to implement budget measures; that is a goal, not a guaranteed result.

• Ontario municipalities, including Toronto, lose the power to make highways toll roads. Toronto also cannot tax individuals for permits for specified kinds of vehicles.
• The Minister of Transportation must reconfigure bicycle lanes on four named Toronto streets to restore lanes for motor traffic, subject to possible exemptions or changes set by regulation. The Lieutenant Governor in Council may also order lane restoration elsewhere.
• Ontario’s capital-markets laws give the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) new investigation powers, including powers to compel evidence and documents. Maximum court fines rise from $5 million to $10 million, and maximum administrative penalties rise from $1 million to $5 million per failure.
• The bill changes fuel, alcohol and tobacco taxes and penalties, and creates a refundable Ontario fertility treatment tax credit worth 25% of eligible expenses, up to $5,000 per year.
• It authorizes the Crown to borrow up to $27 billion and creates an account for historical-park revenues and related spending.
• It also changes government oversight of the Ontario Cannabis Retail Corporation, assessment notices and information-sharing, and tax exemptions for a specified children’s oncology property in Ottawa.

What it means for you#

• Toronto drivers and residents: Toronto cannot make a highway a toll highway or impose a tax on individuals for permits for passenger cars, motorcycles, motor-assisted bicycles, and certain light commercial vehicles used mainly for personal transport. The Minister must reconfigure bicycle lanes on Bloor Street, University Avenue, Avenue Road and Yonge Street to restore a lane for motor traffic, unless regulations provide otherwise. The law does not say how the reconfiguration will be carried out.
• People affected by automated speed or red-light cameras: Municipalities must publish camera locations. They must display signs if regulations require it. The Minister may require system data and direct a municipality to change how it operates a system; the municipality must promptly comply. Contracts cannot base supplier payments on tickets, penalties or a share of system revenue. Regulations may bar tickets or penalties in specified circumstances.
• Investors and people or companies investigated by CIRO: If CIRO is recognized by the Ontario Securities Commission and has authority under its rules to investigate the matter, its CEO may appoint CIRO employees to investigate. Investigators can compel testimony and documents using powers like those of the Superior Court. CIRO’s CEO may also prohibit disclosure of investigation information for a specified period. Good-faith actions by CIRO’s current or former directors, officers, employees and agents are protected from personal lawsuits, with exceptions including Crown proceedings and judicial review.
• People paying for fertility treatment: Ontario residents may claim the refundable credit for eligible expenses paid after December 31, 2024. Expenses must meet the bill’s conditions, including that services or goods were provided entirely in Canada and the expense was not reimbursed. Only one partner may claim an expense.
• Drivers, fuel users and alcohol buyers: The gasoline tax rate is set at 9 cents per litre, and the rate for leaded gasoline at 17.7 cents. The bill ends propane taxation under the Gasoline Tax Act from July 1, 2025, but also changes the Fuel Tax Act; the effect of those provisions together is not fully explained in the supplied material. It reduces the basic tax rate for beer made by microbrewers and halves the stated rate on spirits bought at distillery retail stores, from 61.5% to 30.75%. Different rates for some lower-alcohol drinks depend on future regulations.
• Tobacco sellers and people handling tobacco: Various tobacco offences carry higher fines. A new offence applies to specified large quantities of tobacco at a place controlled by the person, or in transit to or from it. It carries a fine of $10,000 to $100,000, an additional fine of at least five times the applicable tax, and up to two years in prison.
• Other affected groups: Former Ontario cabinet members receive an honorary designation and may use “The Honourable” and “E.C.O.”, but do not gain the rights or duties of serving cabinet members. The Ontario Cannabis Retail Corporation needs ministerial approval for all by-laws, and the Minister may direct how and when it pays net profits to the province. The City of Ottawa may exempt the specified oncology property from municipal and school taxes if it is used solely by the named organization.

Money#

No overall cost estimate is in the available material.

• The fertility credit reduces provincial tax revenue; no estimate is given. The bill also changes tax rates for fuel and alcohol and raises tobacco fines.
• The Crown may borrow up to $27 billion under the new loan law. This is authority to borrow, not an appropriation of $27 billion for a particular program.
• Historical-park revenues are recorded in a new account. Spending from it is allowed up to the account balance for specified park costs, refunds and reimbursements; no amount is stated.
• CIRO investigations may require resources, but no staffing or cost estimate is provided.

What is unclear#

• Several provisions start only on a date set by government order, including repeal of the Highway 407 East Act and changes to historical parks. The supplied material does not say whether or when those orders have been made.
• The bill does not specify the practical process, budget or schedule for reconfiguring Toronto’s bicycle lanes.
• The Minister’s power to direct changes to automated camera systems is broad; the bill does not set out criteria for directions. Some rules about signs and when camera evidence can lead to a ticket depend on regulations.
• The precise alternate tax rates and covered categories for alcohol refreshment beverages depend on regulations.
• The supplied material does not estimate the costs or revenue effects of the tax measures, the fertility credit, or the new administrative duties.
• The bill repeals the Highway 407 East Act, but the supplied material does not explain the practical effect on existing arrangements. The full parent Acts were not supplied, so changes could not be checked against the complete current law.

Case for#

• A possible argument for the camera rules is that they prevent suppliers from earning more when more tickets are issued, while requiring municipalities to disclose camera locations.
• Stronger investigation powers and higher penalties could help regulators investigate and respond to breaches of securities and commodity-futures law.
• The fertility credit could reduce some eligible treatment costs for Ontario residents, while the microbrewer tax changes could reduce taxes for qualifying beer makers.
• The historical-parks account creates a way to record park revenues and use them for listed park expenses, refunds and reimbursements.

Case against#

• The bill gives the Minister and Lieutenant Governor in Council substantial control over local transportation choices: municipalities lose toll-highway powers, and the province can require changes to camera operations and bicycle lanes.
• CIRO investigators can compel testimony and documents, and investigation secrecy orders may restrict disclosure. The bill also limits personal lawsuits against CIRO officials for good-faith conduct.
• The bill leaves important details to future regulations, including camera enforcement limits and alcohol-refreshment tax rates. The effects are therefore not fully set out in the statute itself.
• The borrowing authority and new duties could have financial effects, but the supplied material gives no overall cost estimate.