Ontario's provincial government passed a new housing law this week intended to speed up a plan to build 1.5M new homes in 10 years, over objections from critics who say it will lead to higher property taxes and put an affordable label on houses that aren't affordable.

The new law from Premier Doug Ford's Progressive Conservative government also permits housing development in some of Ontario's Greenbelt environmental protection zone, and it allows the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa to pass bylaws enabling development with just one-third support of their city councils.

The law also expands the definition of affordability to include homes that are sold at 80% of the market rate—in markets where the average home prices peaked earlier this year at nearly $1M, or about $750K in Canadian dollars.