GRIDS

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.