As the International Code Council Evaluation Service (ICC-ES) introduces Evaluation Service Reports (ESRs) for groundbreaking construction products in Canada, Ontario marks a significant milestone with the Royal Assent of Bill 17, the “Protecting Ontario by Building Faster and Smarter Act, 2025,” on June 5, 2025.

Bill 17 includes several changes, one of which is that (effective July 1, 2025) clause 29(1)(a) of the Ontario Building Code Act is repealed:

“approving the use of innovative materials, systems or building designs evaluated by a materials evaluation body designated in the building code;”
– Ontario Building Code Act, 1992, clause 29(1)(a)

This means that as of July 1, 2025, innovative products can be approved for use in Ontario without the need for a Minister’s Ruling. Ontario municipalities now have the freedom to more readily adopt innovation:

“using alternative solutions that will achieve at least the minimum level of performance required by Division B in the areas defined by the objectives and functional statements attributed to the applicable acceptable solutions…”
- Ontario Building Code 2024, Division A, Clause 1.2.1.1.(1)(b)

This positive change removes barriers to trade and increases the capacity for innovation in the province of Ontario, helping manufacturers, builders and municipalities build faster and smarter.

ICC-ES has been at the forefront of innovation in the construction industry for more than 90 years, and this change aligns Ontario with the rest of Canada with a path for manufacturers to utilize ICC-ES’ world-class ESR service to simply and efficiently demonstrate compliance with the code.

Manufacturers can reach out to their ICC-ES account manager, lead engineer, or David Beauchamp (Manager, ES Canada) at [email protected] for more information.