Supporting Broadband and Infrastructure Expansion Act

Supporting Broadband and Infrastructure Expansion Act
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Long title An Act to enact the Building Broadband Faster Act, 2021 and to make other amendments in respect of infrastructure and land use planning matters
Citation	S.O. 2021, c. 2
Assented to	April 12, 2021
Legislative history
Bill citation	Bill 257
Introduced by	Laurie Scott MPP, Minister of Infrastructure
First reading	March 4, 2021
Second reading	March 23, 2021
Third reading	April 12, 2021
Status: Current legislation

The Supporting Broadband and Infrastructure Expansion Act, 2021 (French : Loi de 2021 soutenant l'expansion de l'Internet et des infrastructures) is an act of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario relating to the expansion of broadband.

Background

In 2020, 70% of the population of Northern Ontario received decent service, defined as a download speed of 50 megabits per second and an upload speed of 10 megabits per second, but this was largely concentrated in the five major cities. ^[1]

The legislation was passed after the Government of Ontario allocated CA$2,800,000 to improving broadband access budget in the 2021 Ontario budget. ^[2]

Provisions

The act amends the Planning Act to exclude Ministeral Zoning Orders from planning laws and policy including Provincial Planning Statements. ^{[3] [4]} The act states that MZOs "are not required and are deemed to never have been required” to be consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement. ^[5]

See also

• Getting Ontario Connected Act

References

1. White, Erik (October 26, 2020). "'Hey, it's 2020' — COVID-19 shows need for faster internet in northern Ontario". CBC News. Archived from the original on November 28, 2020. Retrieved July 20, 2025.
2. "Rural Ontario areas seek some of $2.8 billion promised for broadband in budget". Global News. March 25, 2021. Archived from the original on March 25, 2021. Retrieved July 20, 2025.
3. "Groups say Bill 257 allows MZOs". Toronto Star. March 10, 2021. Archived from the original on July 20, 2025. Retrieved July 20, 2025.
4. McGrath, John Michael (March 4, 2021). "How Steve Clark is tripling down on his controversial planning powers". TVO Today. Archived from the original on July 20, 2025. Retrieved July 20, 2025.
5. McLeod, Marsha (March 23, 2021). "The rise and fall of the Duffins Creek MZO". TVO Today. Archived from the original on April 12, 2021. Retrieved July 20, 2025.