Planning & Development
Growth Planning (GRIDS)
Engage With Us
We want your feedback on the draft policy updates for the MCR process and Official Plan Review.
Official Plan Review
A targeted update to sections and policies that require changes to address provincial policies and significant locally-identified issues. Review of the City’s Official Plan policies will occur at the same time as the GRIDS 2 project.
UPDATE: On December 6, 2023, Bill 150, the Planning Statute Law Amendment Act, 2023 received royal assent enacting the Official Plan Adjustments Act, 2023.
The legislation results in all but three of the provincial modifications made on November 4, 2022, to Rural Hamilton Official Plan Amendment 34 and Urban Hamilton Official Plan Amendment 167, to accommodate population and job growth to the year 2051, as having never been made. The effect of this legislation includes restoring the no urban boundary expansion growth strategy approved by City Council in June 2022.
Staff are in the process of updating both the Urban Hamilton Official Plan and Rural Hamilton Official Plan to reflect the new legislation.
Additional information, including the City’s response to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH) announcement and the introduction of Bill 150 can be found on the City’s Provincial Planning Matters Page.
COMPLETION OF PHASE 1: CONFORMITY REVIEW - URBAN
PROJECT UPDATE (Nov. 4, 2022): The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH) issued decisions to the City of Hamilton on November 4, 2022 in response to the Council-adopted Official Plan Amendments (OPA) to the Urban Hamilton Official Plan (OPA 167) and Rural Hamilton Official Plan (OPA 34) which represented Phase 1 of the City’s Official Plan Review and the GRIDS 2 / Municipal Comprehensive Review processes.
The decision issued by MMAH includes these notable changes to the Council-adopted OPAs:
- Expansion of the urban boundary by 2,200 gross hectares
- Development in the new expansion areas cannot proceed until Secondary Planning work is completed
- Removal of City-wide intensification and density targets (new targets to be added through a future OPA)
- Amendment to the height and density permissions in the City’s Community Nodes, including the Ancaster Community Node, to allow up to 6 storeys as-of-right, and up to 8 storeys subject to certain design policies, without amendment to the Plan
- Removal of the proposed 30 storey City-wide height limit
- Further expansions to the Urban Area of 40 hectares or less without needing a MCR
The complete MMAH approved Official Plan Amendments can be viewed through the Environmental Registry of Ontario webpage:
https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/019-5732
Planning Staff are reviewing the details of the Province’s modifications and will be reporting to Council on November 29, 2022 to provide details about implementation.
View the Communication Update to the Mayor and members of City Council regarding the MMAH decision for OPA 167 and OPA 34
Planning for Future Growth
The City is planning for a significant amount of growth over the next 30 years. The existing Growth Related Integrated Strategy (GRIDS) needs to be updated to plan for the City’s population & job growth to 2051.
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