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Earlier today, the Province of Ontario proposed transformative changes to land use policies in the Greater Golden Horseshoe. Based on recommendations presented by the Land Use Planning Review Advisory Panel, the Province is moving forward in amending four plans governing land use in Canada's fastest-growing urban region.
In adopting proposed updates to the Greenbelt Plan, the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, the Niagara Escarpment Plan and the Oak Ridges Moraine Plan, Ontario is committing to expanded environmental protections and a more urban growth strategy. With the GGH predicted to sharply increase in population over the next 25 years—adding over 4 million residents by 2041—an augmented growth strategy is needed to accommodate the quickly changing region.
Chaired by former Toronto mayor David Crombie, the Advisory Panel produced a report titled "Planning for Health, Prosperity, and Growth in the Greater Golden Horseshoe: 2015-2041." Responding to the intense growth pressure faced throughout the GGH, the report proposed significant changes to regulations governing regional land use planning. Providing a set of 87 recommendations, the Advisory Panel's input "build[s] on the existing goals and objectives of the four plans in order to fully realize their potential to contribute to greater economic prosperity, more efficient transportation, more productive agriculture, healthier communities and more resilient natural systems."
Building Sustainable, Complete Communities
The Advisory Panel recommends strengthening protections of employment lands, ensuring that growing communities maintain a viable balance of residential and commercial/industrial areas. Transit and density are also crucial elements of the complete communities initiative, with transit corridors—which need to be protected and developed—identified as vital to future growth.
To foster a more urban—and environmentally sustainable—growth pattern, proposed planning amendments would require at least 60% of new residential development to be concentrated within the "existing built-up area of a municipality," while up-zoning along transit corridors would allow greater densities to be more strategically concentrated.
Across municipal greenfields areas, a minimum density target of 80 jobs and residents per hectare is also identified. Strengthened planning regulations—with more rigorous environmental and financial criteria—for future settlement area expansions are also recommended, along with clearer regulations regarding the development of agricultural land across the Province.
A need for more integrated infrastructure planing is also identified, with greater cohesion between land use planning and infrastructure planning required. Besides focused investment in transit corridors and green infrastructure, the Report calls for a framework to designate and protect corridors for future municipal and provincial infrastructure. Finally, the report admonishes the Province to "establish a transparent and consistent way for municipalities to calculate the amount of land needed to accommodate growth."
An overarching goal of these initiatives is to prevent urban sprawl—and its environmental impacts—by creating dense, low-carbon communities. By creating transit-friendly "live-work-play" communities in lieu of sprawling subdivisions, the region can continue to enjoy more sustainable growth in decades to come.
Growing the Greenbelt and Responding to Climate Change
With development pressure becoming more intense, the Advisory Panel's Report proposes "adding the lands within 21 major urban river valleys to the Greenbelt, along with seven coastal wetlands." In order to protect the region's clean water, a clearer framework for the Greenbelt's future expansion is also proposed. More immediately, four parcels of land—identified by the City of Hamilton and the Region of Niagara—would be granted Greenbelt protections.
Alongside an expanded Greenbelt, the Report calls for similar protections to be granted to Ontario's other natural heritage systems. The marshes, rivers, and woodlands outside the Greenbelt also require increased environmental protections, with the Provincial government set to take a leading role in enhancing conservation initiatives. Municipalities in the Greater Golden Horseshoe would also be required to undertake comprehensive watershed analysis before planning new development or infrastructure.
More broadly, municipalities would need to develop stormwater management polities and "integrate climate change policies into municipal official plans," as well as "conduct climate change vulnerability risk assessments when they are planning or replacing infrastructure."
Tightened restrictions on urban sprawl would also serve to benefit agricultural areas, with "greater flexibility in the types of agriculture-related uses allowed on farm land" also proposed. The Report promotes "the identification, mapping and protection of an agricultural system throughout the region," with regulations to limit the loss of agricultural land—and make agricultural areas more central to municipal plans—also recommended.
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Announcing the Ontario Government's commitment in implementing the recommendations, a number of Provincial ministers joined Mississauga mayor Bonnie Crombie in Port Credit earlier today. Ted McMeekin, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Steven Del Duca, Minister of Transportation, Bill Mauro, Minister of Natural Resources, and Finance Minister Charles Sousa were all on hand to promote an updated approach to land use. All of them stressed the importance of planning policies in shaping Ontario's economic future, and in ensuring a sustainable and inclusive region in the face of unprecedented population growth.
Members of the public—and stakeholder groups—have the opportunity to provide input on the proposed changes, with a series of open houses scheduled in May and June. A list of confirmed open houses is available on the Province's official website, while an online feedback form is also available.
We will keep you updated as the Province moves forward in updating land use policies. In the meantime, a more detailed summary of the Advisory Panel's recommendations is linked here, alongside a full copy of the Report. Want to share your thoughts on the recommendations? Feel free to leave a comment in the space below this page.
