Remnant Zones Project

The City of Hamilton’s Comprehensive Zoning By-law No. 05-200 came into effect on May 25, 2005. Since then, it has been implemented across the city in stages, replacing the zoning by-laws of the former municipalities. Over time, new zones have been introduced in phases with the final phase focused on residential zones within the urban area.

Throughout this process of adding new zones to the city-wide Zoning By-law, some properties remained zoned in one of the former municipal zoning by-laws for various reasons. The City is now working to incorporate these remaining “remnant” properties into the city-wide Zoning By-law, beginning with remnant commercial zones.

Zoning By-law No. 05-200 Timeline

Zoning By-law Update: Remnant Commercial Zones

In 2017, the City introduced the Commercial and Mixed Use (CMU) Zones to Zoning By-law No. 05-200, which applied updated zoning permissions and standards to commercial and mixed-use properties across Hamilton.

Similarly in 2016, the Transit Oriented Corridor (TOC) Zones were introduced and applied to properties along the proposed LRT (Light Rail Transit) route between McMaster University and the Queenston Traffic Circle.

What is captured in this update?

Some areas were not included in the CMU and TOC zoning updates when they were first introduced, as they required further evaluation at the time. 

To ensure consistent commercial and mixed-use zones across the city, Hamilton is now updating the zoning for these remaining ("remnant") commercial and mixed-use areas. The approved CMU and TOC zoning designations — along with certain Utility Zones — are being applied to these areas, which were previously regulated by the former Community Zoning By-laws.