Ok, so I decided to quantify this a bit....
Google Spreadsheet
Pulling data from TBA and the FRC Pre-Qual list (methods listed on the 2nd tab), and ignoring Ontario (going districts), here's what I get:
Under 2016 rules 57 teams were awarded wildcards. Under the 2017 rule that would jump to 88, an increase of 31 teams.
Another interesting point... 17 regionals would not have gained a wildcard under the 2017 rules because they either ran out of finalists, or they were pre-qualified otherwise. Some of those regionals (I've yet to dig deep enough to quantify it, yet) surely have "burned" wildcards under the 2016 rules as well.