ontario regulation 248/25

made under the

Ontario Energy Board Act, 1998

Made: October 23, 2025
Filed: October 31, 2025
Published on e-Laws: November 3, 2025
Published in The Ontario Gazette: November 15, 2025

Amending O. Reg. 410/22

(ELECTRICITY INFRASTRUCTURE - DESIGNATED BROADBAND PROJECTS)

1. Subsection 1 (1) of Ontario Regulation 410/22 is amended by adding the following definitions:

“pole” includes a distribution pole that is part of a distribution system or a pole that is part of utility infrastructure; (“poteau”)

“utility infrastructure” has the same meaning as in the Building Broadband Faster Act, 2021. (“infrastructure de services publics”)

2. (1) Subsection 2 (1) of the Regulation is amended by adding “or an owner of utility infrastructure” after “a proponent”.

(2) Subsection 2 (2) of the Regulation is amended by adding “or owner” after “the proponent”.

3. The Regulation is amended by adding the following section:

Utility infrastructure pole owner’s consent

2.1 If the prescribed development of, use of or access to any part of the licensed distributor’s distribution system specified in a notice includes a part of the distribution system that is in any way attached or connected to a pole that is part of utility infrastructure and that is not owned by the distributor, and confirmation of the consent of the owner of the pole to the specified development, use or access as it affects that infrastructure is not included in the notice, the distributor shall,

(a) no later than 10 days after receiving the notice, ask the owner for the consent in writing; and

(b) obtain the owner’s written consent before starting any work on the part of the distribution system that is attached or connected to the owner’s pole.

4. (1) Subsection 3 (1) of the Regulation is amended by adding “Except as otherwise provided by subsection (1.1)” at the beginning.

(2) Section 3 of the Regulation is amended by adding the following subsection:

(1.1) Subsection (1) does not apply with respect to,

(a) subsections 5 (2), (3) and (8);

(b) subsections 6 (3) and (4);

(c) subsection 7 (5); and

(d) subsection 8 (7).

(3) Subsection 3 (2) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “that is not referred to in subsection (1)” and substituting “to which subsection (1) does not apply”.

5. (1) Subsection 5 (1) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “no later than the time specified under subsection (2)” and substituting “no later than 180 days after receiving the notice”.

(2) Subsections 5 (2) and (3) of the Regulation are revoked and the following substituted:

(2) Despite subsection (1), Hydro One Networks Inc. shall meet the requirements of that subsection for notices it receives under section 2 in accordance with the following rules instead of within the period specified by that subsection:

1. For the period beginning on November 1, 2025 and ending on May 31, 2026,

i. Hydro One Networks Inc. shall make reasonable efforts to meet the requirements of subsection (1) with respect to 30,000 poles no later than May 31, 2026, but, in any event, shall meet the 30,000 pole requirement no later than June 30, 2026, and

ii. if Hydro One Networks Inc. exceeds the required rate of poles for the period to which this paragraph applies, the excess may be applied to meet the required rate of poles for one or more months in the period to which paragraph 2 applies.

2. For the period beginning on June 1, 2026, Hydro One Networks Inc. shall meet the requirements of subsection (1) at a rate of 10,000 poles per month, subject to the following exceptions:

i. If Hydro One Networks Inc. is prevented from meeting the required rate of poles for a month due to force majeure, Hydro One Networks Inc. must address the deficit for the month before the expiry of the following six-month period.

ii. If Hydro One Networks Inc. exceeds the required rate of poles for a month, the excess may be applied to meet the required rate of poles for one or more subsequent months in the period to which this paragraph applies.

3. If, after November 30, 2027, Hydro One Networks Inc. is unable for any reason to meet the rate of 10,000 poles per month for notices it received before November 1, 2025, it may meet a lower monthly rate of poles with respect to those notices but shall still meet the requirements of subsection (1) with respect to those notices before July 1, 2028, despite anything to the contrary in paragraph 2 or any notice of material deficiency given under subsection 6 (2).

(3) Subsection (2) applies with respect to notices received under section 2 before or after the day subsection 5 (2) of Ontario Regulation 248/25 comes into force.

(3) Section 5 of the Regulation is amended by adding the following subsection:

(8) Subsection (7) does not apply with respect to work affecting utility infrastructure that is not owned by the licensed distributor, for which the distributor is not entitled to and shall not charge the proponent or the owner of the utility infrastructure any amount in order to recover a contribution towards the costs of the work, including, for greater certainty, costs connected to any repairs or corrections made to the distributor’s distribution system that would have to have been made in the absence of a notice under section 2.

6. (1) Clause 6 (1) (a) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “subsection 5 (2)” in the portion before subclause (i) and substituting “that section”.

(2) Subclause 6 (1) (a) (vi) of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:

(vi) the insufficiency of time to meet the requirement, including that it is patently obvious that consent of the owner of utility infrastructure, if required under section 2.1, will not be obtained before the requirement must be met;

(3) Section 6 of the Regulation is amended by adding the following subsections:

(3) Subsection (2) applies with respect to Hydro One Networks Inc. with the following limitations:

1. Before January 1, 2028, subsection (2) applies with respect to it only as provided by paragraph 2.

2. On and after June 1, 2026 and before January 1, 2028, Hydro One Networks Inc. shall give notice of a material deficiency referred to in clause (1) (c) if it determines that one or more proponents have failed to provide contribution amounts charged by it under subsection 5 (7) and the failure affects work required to be done on more than half of the poles to which notices received by it under section 2 apply.

(4) If Hydro One Networks Inc. gives notice of a material deficiency in reliance on paragraph 2 of subsection (3), the required rate of poles applicable to it under subsection 5 (2) ceases to apply until,

(a) the earlier of,

(i) the day after the day the material deficiency is resolved or such other date agreed to by the proponent and Hydro One Networks Inc., and

(ii) the day on which the failure to provide contribution amounts charged by it under subsection 5 (7) affects no more than half of the poles to which notices received by it under section 2 apply; or

(b) the date specified by the Board in an order under section 9.

7. (1) Subsection 7 (2) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “subparagraphs 1 i to iv of subsection 5 (2)” and substituting “subsection 5 (1)”.

(2) Section 7 of the Regulation is amended by adding the following subsection:

(5) This section does not apply to Hydro One Networks Inc. and, with respect to any notice of a material deficiency it gave under subsection 6 (2) for which the counting of days has not resumed under subsection (4) before the day subsection 7 (2) of Ontario Regulation 248/25 comes into force, the notice ceases to have effect and the material deficiency is deemed to have been resolved on that day.

8. (1) Clause 8 (6) (a) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “under subsection 5 (2)” and substituting “to meet the requirements under section 5”.

(2) Section 8 of the Regulation is amended by adding the following subsection:

(7) Despite subsection (1), if Hydro One Networks Inc. gave notice of a material deficiency before the day subsection 8 (2) of Ontario Regulation 248/25 came into force that was not resolved before that day, the notice ceases to have effect and any material deficiency is deemed to have been resolved on that day.

9. Section 11 of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:

Reporting, Hydro One Networks Inc.

11. (1) For every month during which Hydro One Networks Inc. is in receipt of a notice under section 2 and has not yet met the requirements of section 5 in respect of that notice, Hydro One Networks Inc. shall, no later than the 15th day of the subsequent month, provide a report containing the information listed in subsection (2) and any other information that the Minister may specify to,

(a) the Minister;

(b) the Board; and

(c) the chief executive officer of the Ontario Infrastructure and Lands Corporation.

(2) Each report shall contain the following information:

1. With respect to the month that is the subject of the report,

i. the number of poles for which the requirements of section 5 were met during the month in relation to all applicable notices, broken down by notice, proponent and municipality, and

ii. if a notice of a material deficiency given by Hydro One Networks Inc. applied during the month, information respecting the basis of its determination that a material deficiency existed, including supporting documentation.

2. The number of poles for which the requirements of section 5 were met on and after November 1, 2025 in relation to all applicable notices, and the number of poles for which the requirements of that section are still to be met under those notices, both broken down by notice, proponent and municipality.

3. Any adjustments respecting the information listed in paragraph 1 or 2 to be made in respect of earlier months.

4. In the first report and every subsequent third report, a quarterly forecast setting out the number of poles that Hydro One Networks Inc. intends to complete per quarter until the work required to respond to the notices is completed, broken down by municipality or, where the information is not available by municipality, to the next largest geographical area for which the information is available.

Commencement

10. This Regulation comes into force on the later of November 1, 2025 and the day this Regulation is filed.