Of Birds and Buildings: Private Member’s Bill Seeks to Protect Birds

  • February 05, 2024
  • Paula Boutis

On October 31, 2023, M.P. Chris Glover introduced a Private Member’s Bill, Bill 145, “An Act to amend the Building Code Act, 1992 with respect to bird-safe windows” (the “Bill”). The short title of the proposed Act is Bird-Safe Windows Act, 2023.

Private member’s bills do not usually become law, but its introduction reminds us that the birds need protecting and that ongoing work has been happening towards this goal for several decades.

The Bill would take this work one step further and seeks to amend section 34 of the Building Code Act, 1992, S.O. 1992, c. 23 (“BCA”) to do one thing: to provide that Ontario Regulation 332/12 (the Building Code) made under the BCA is deemed to include the Canadian Standards Association Bird-Friendly Building Design Standard A460 (“CSA Standard A460”), which was published in May 2019.