Provincial Planning Matters

The Province is responsible for the Planning Act as well as policy statements and plans related to a number of planning matters. When the Province proposes changes, to the Plans or the Policy Statement(s), the City of Hamilton provides comments on these proposed  changes.

Do you wish to speak at an upcoming meeting? You will need to register as a speaker

Draft Evaluation Framework for Interim Urban Boundary Expansion

• November 2019: The Provincial Growth Plan, 2019 has introduced a new policy (2.2.8.5) which permits an urban boundary expansion to occur outside of the Municipal Comprehensive Review (MCR) process, subject to satisfying certain criteria. These urban boundary expansion requests can be initiated by private applicants, but they cannot exceed an area of 40 ha. 
• To assist in the review of urban boundary expansion requests outside of the MCR process, an evaluation tool has been created which will assist staff with evaluating requests as they are received.  The evaluation tool is based on the criteria identified in the Growth Plan. The evaluation tool is available for review - revised Nov. 27, 2019 (PDF, 14 MB). Do you have comments on the evaluation tool? Send your comments to [email protected]

Provincial Policy Statement Review, 2019

• October 1, 2019: At Planning Committee, the City will be considering proposed changes to the Provincial Policy Statement
  • Staff Report PED19188 - Provincial Policy Statement Review - City of Hamilton Comments (PDF, 225 KB)
    • Appendix A - Summary of Proposed PPS Policy Changes (PDF, 258 KB)
    • Appendix B - Additional Policy Changes Proposed by Staff (PDF, 42 KB)

Provincial Growth Plan Changes (Amendment No. 1 and Provincially Significant Employment Zones)

• February 19, 2019: At Planning Committee, the City will be considering Proposed Changes to the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (Amendment No. 1 and Provincially Significant Employment Zones)
  • Staff Report PED19033 – Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe – Amendment No. 1 and Provincially Significant Employment Zones (PDF, 160 KB)
    • Appendix A - Employment Areas policy changes (PDF, 90 KB)
    • Appendix B - Settlement Area Boundary Expansion policy changes (PDF, 80 KB)
    • Appendix C - Built-up Area policy changes (PDF, 71 KB)
    • Appendix D - Designated Greenfield Area policy changes (PDF, 72 KB)
    • Appendix E - Transit Corridors and Station Areas policy changes (PDF, 64 KB)
    • Appendix F - Housing policy changes (PDF, 57 KB 
    • Appendix G - Rural Areas policy changes (PDF, 33 KB)
    • Appendix H - Infrastructure, Protecting what is Valuable and Implementation policy changes (PDF, 64 KB)
    • Appendix I - Definitions changes (PDF, 69 KB)
    • Appendix J - Summary of comments made previously by City of Hamilton regarding provincial plans (PDF, 32 KB)

Bill 66 - Planning Act Changes

• February 5, 2019:  At Planning Committee, the City will be considering Bill 66 - Restoring Ontario's Competitiveness Act, 2018 (Schedule 10).
  • Staff Report PED19027 - Restoring Ontario's Competitiveness Act, 2018 (Schedule 10) (PDF, 1 MB)
    • Appendix A - Comments on ERO Posting #013-4293 "Bill 66, Restoring Ontario's Competitiveness Act, 2018" (PDF, 674 KB)
    • Appendix B - Comments on ERO Posting #013-4125 "Proposed open-for-business planning tool" and ERO Posting #013-4239 "New Regulation under the Planning Act for open-for-business tool" (PDF, 1 MB)

Greenbelt Modifications

• January 11, 2017: The Province released, for public comment, proposed minor changes to the Greenbelt Plan boundaries only. These modifications do not affect the City of Hamilton, as noted in the Staff Report PED15078(c).

Revised Plans

• May 2016: The Province released proposed changes to the Growth Plan, the Greenbelt Plan and the Niagara Escarpment Plan (NEP) as part of its Co-ordinated Provincial Plan Review. The proposed changes can be viewed at the Province of Ontario’s website. 
   
• September 2016: The City of Hamilton provided comments on the proposed changes through Staff Report PED15078(b).

Co-ordinated Provincial Plan Review

• February 27, 2015: The Province of Ontario initiated the coordinated review of the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, Greenbelt Plan, Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan and the Niagara Escarpment Plan.
   
• June 2015: Following public consultation, the City of Hamilton provided comments to the Province through Staff Report PED15078
   
• December 2015: The City of Hamilton provided additional comments on Greenbelt Boundary revisions, following additional public consultation, through Staff Report PED15078(a).
  • View the public consultation materials

Contact us

Heather Travis
Phone: 905-546-2424 ext. 4168
​Email: [email protected]