Hamilton City Council votes against urban boundary expansion

HAMILTON, ON – Hamilton City Council has voted against expanding Hamilton’s urban boundary. City Council today voted to proceed with its planning to accommodate future growth in a manner that does not include an expansion to the City’s urban boundary.

Through the City’s Growth Related Integrated Development Strategy 2, known as GRIDS 2, and the Municipal Comprehensive Review (MCR), the City must determine if forecasted growth by the Province of Ontario can be planned within the existing urban boundary through intensification and redevelopment or if an expansion to the urban boundary is required to plan for a portion of this growth in new greenfield communities.

The Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing requires that the city form a land-use plan for the next 30 years that will accommodate a net growth of 236,000 people and 122,000 jobs. Today’s decision will see City staff update the land-use plan to reflect its land needs and growth strategy for submission to the province by July 2022.

“The City’s decision to accommodate growth within the existing boundary is an important one for Hamilton’s growth. I would like to thank City staff and consultants for their work on preparing and presenting the reports and giving Council the best possible advice they could provide. I would also like to thank community members for responding to surveys and who sent correspondence or delegated to Council on this issue. Your participation in this process is important and helps create an inclusive and democratic Hamilton.” - Mayor Fred Eisenberger

Quick facts

• Staff will report annually to the Planning Committee on residential development activity including, but not limited to, the City’s residential intensification rate; construction activity in terms of housing mix; the City’s supply of vacant land to accommodate forecasted growth; and, a comparison of actual versus forecasted growth.
• Staff will report annually to the General Issues Committee on the impacts of the no growth option, specifically on social housing unit cost, land cost, square foot development costs, mixed housing contrasting with benchmarking on current values.
• The Province of Ontario requires municipalities like Hamilton to plan for growth until 2051. The province forecasts that between the years 2021 and 2051, Hamilton is expected to grow by 236,000 people and 122,000 jobs.
• GRIDS 2 is a process that plans for how and where additional population and employment growth can be accommodated and determine the impact on City infrastructure, such as water, wastewater, stormwater and transportation.
• In June 2021, a mail-out survey was distributed to households in Hamilton for opinions about how the City of Hamilton should grow to the year 2051.
• A total of 18,387 survey responses were submitted to the City through mail and email up to the survey deadline of July 23, 2021, view the results of the survey.

Additional resources

• GRIDS2 and Municipal Comprehensive Review