It’s Time to Harmonize How We Build Roads in Ontario

As the snow thaws and another pothole season sets in, Ontarians once again find themselves questioning the state of our roads. While the freeze-thaw cycle is a natural culprit, the inconsistency in how we design and build roads across our cities is a problem entirely of our own making. 

In Ontario, Municipalities are responsible for road design specifications. This might seem like a technical nuance, but it has real and costly consequences. Contractors bidding on public works projects must constantly adjust to unique local specifications, even when working just a few kilometres apart. What’s worse, these micro-differences create barriers to trade and mobility not just between regions—but within them. In no other sector do we tolerate this level of fragmentation. 

Compare that to the United States, where state departments of transportation (DOTs) set standardized design frameworks. Municipalities build within them. This alignment fosters competition, creates efficiencies, and reduces costs—an approach we would do well to emulate. 

One of the clearest examples is asphalt design. In Ontario alone, municipalities use varying standards for mix types, materials, and performance expectations. By harmonizing asphalt specifications across jurisdictions, we can unlock measurable cost savings for cities and better value for taxpayers. Contractors would no longer need to retool operations for every municipal job, saving time and money. Material producers could achieve economies of scale. And most importantly, roads would be built to consistent, high-performance standards that stand up better over time. 

There’s also a broader economic benefit. In a global environment increasingly shaped by volatility—think supply chain disruptions and tariffs under Trump-era trade policy—Ontario must look inward to improve productivity and reduce self-imposed inefficiencies. Harmonizing road design is low-hanging fruit. 

The potential payoff is significant. A standardized approach would support job creation by making it easier for contractors to operate across municipal borders. It would increase project completeness and delivery speed by reducing confusion and design rework. It would allow municipal staff to focus more on asset management and less on custom engineering. And critically, it would stretch limited infrastructure dollars further at a time when cities across the country are facing mounting fiscal pressures. 

We’re not talking about handing all authority over to upper levels of government. Municipalities should retain control over priorities and investments. But when it comes to how we design the roads themselves, adopting shared technical standards—just like we do with the national building code—is simply common sense. 

Ontarians deserve durable roads, efficient use of their tax dollars, and a construction sector that is built to compete. As another winter gives way to the cracks and craters of spring, let’s not just patch our roads—let’s fix the way we build them in the first place.

Steven Crombie
Sr. Director, Public Affairs
ORBA
steven@orba.org