Year-end recap: policy changes impacting bird-building collisions

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2025 was an exciting yet tumultuous year for FLAP’s work on bird-building collisions. While there continues to be significant advances, recently we have seen significant backsliding on hard-earned progress. Municipal policy interventions to reduce bird-glass collisions are being curtailed by the provincial government in Ontario.

Nonetheless, as we lead into 2026, we at FLAP are feeling hopeful for a variety of reasons:

  • There are more people aware of bird-building collisions than ever before – a trend that can be observed through Google search analytics
  • New partnerships are enabling FLAP to collaborate more closely with multiple levels of government to assess existing buildings for collision risk, and to consult about policy development.
  • Retrofitting of existing buildings continues at multiple scales – from individual homes being treated by window cleaners, to the massive retrofit of Royal Bank Plaza in downtown Toronto following decades of bird collision monitoring and advocacy.
  • The federal government has adopted official policy in the Greening Government Strategy to address the risk of bird collisions at its buildings across Canada.
  • Public buildings such as municipal community centres and visitor centres in provincial parks continue to be retrofitted; this uptake of solutions represents growing awareness within the public sector.
  • Bird building collisions are increasingly being considered in different areas of the public sector and industry. For example, the federal government updated the National Master Construction Specification to reference bird safe design. The National Master Specification (NMS) is a comprehensive library of construction specification sections used by government and private industry that is supported by all major construction industry associations.

The province of Ontario adopted legislation in 2025 that has wide-ranging effects on municipal planning, including the enforcement of green building standards. Bill 17 and later Bill 60 were explicitly aimed at removing the authority granted by the province to municipalities under the Planning Act and City of Toronto Act to enact requirements influencing the construction of buildings, and for developments to include green roofs in Toronto, respectively.

FLAP submitted comments to the province about Bill 17 through the Environmental Registry of Ontario and directly via email. However, we were disappointed when the bill was passed and the province acknowledged that changes affecting green building standards were not within the scope of the consultation, as noted by Ontario’s Auditor General in her December report on the operation of Ontario’s Environmental Bill of Rights [page 11]:

“Ontarians Were Not Consulted About an Amendment to the Building Code Act 1992.

… Green building standards are used by municipalities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and meet their sustainability targets. These standards set design and performance requirements for development projects and cover a range of sustainability issues, such as bird-friendly window design and energy performance for buildings.”

The Municipal Affairs Ministry told our Office that it did not consult Ontarians because the proposed amendment was simply for clarification, “with no substantiative change to the existing legislation.”

Under the EBR, prescribed ministries are required to consult the public about amendments to acts that “could, if implemented, have a significant effect on the environment.” Since the proposed amendments were intended to stop municipalities from continuing to enforce, or starting to enforce, their own green building standards, and since green building standards aim to manage environmental impacts, the amendments to the Building Code Act, 1992 could potentially have a significant effect on the environment.”

Where does this leave policy for bird-safe buildings in Ontario?

Legislation and regulations affecting the planning process in Ontario have undergone drastic transformations in recent years. The latest round of legislated changes in Bill 17, and regulations to implement the legislation, are still being interpreted. The Toronto Green Standard was originally scheduled to be reviewed and updated in 2026, but the trajectory of that process is now uncertain. While the City of Toronto staff originally reported that the Toronto Green Standard would not be impacted by Bill 17, this opinion does not appear to be shared by other municipalities or the province.

In effect, it appears that municipalities in Ontario no longer have authority to enforce mandatory green building standards. This means that numerous municipalities in the Greater Toronto Area, like Toronto, Markham and Mississauga, as well as others across the province, have lost their ability to enforce requirements for bird safe building design through the site planning process that applies to most commercial, institutional and multi-unit residential (10+ units) developments. In mid-2024, the province passed Bill 185 which exempted universities from the Planning Act, meaning that developments on campuses are no longer required to go through the municipal site plan approval process.

Despite the changes legislated by the province, municipalities may still enact voluntary green building standards and related incentive programs. Since Bill 17, municipalities like the City of Newmarket and Town of Whitby have proceeded to release updated green building standards that take a voluntary approach. As provinces and the federal government continue to provide municipalities and developers with financial incentives, there may be opportunities to incorporate bird safe design components into the delivery of funding programs.

FLAP remains of the opinion that voluntary standards are insufficient to ensure new building construction is designed to be safe for birds. Past experiences suggest that developers will generally avoid the additional cost of bird safe glazing components (however small) unless they are required as part of the approval process.

The best way for new building construction to be made safe for birds is for a bird safe building design standard to be embedded into Ontario’s building code. Since provinces have jurisdiction over building construction and the building code applies to all building construction (i.e., more than the scope of buildings covered by municipal site plan approval) as well as major renovations, the building code is the correct vehicle for advancing bird safe design through the planning process. Working with MPP Chris Glover, FLAP has repeatedly pushed for bird safe design to be incorporated into Ontario’s building code as well as the national model building code, and has amassed broad multi-partisan support. However, we recognize that it will likely take broader political and cultural shifts before we will see meaningful progress on the building code front.

We at FLAP continue to push for higher levels of government to enforce regulations that prohibit buildings from killing birds, and to develop incentives to help offset the costs of mitigation. Canadians can support our efforts by signing our petition.