Provincial Planning Information

Provincial Planning

• Provincial Places to Grow legislation
  The Places to Grow Act 2005, provides a framework to coordinate long-term growth planning with decisions about infrastructure investments. It gives the provincial government the power to designate growth plan areas throughout the province and to develop growth plans in collaboration with local officials and stakeholders.  It also supports a coordinated approach to growth-related issues that cross municipal boundaries.
• Provincial Policy Statement
  The Provincial Policy Statement (PPS) provides direction on matters of provincial interest related to land use planning and development, and promotes the provincial “policy-led” planning system. The new Provincial Policy Statement came into effect on March 1, 2005 and it requires that planning decisions by municipal governments “shall be consistent with” the new policies. The PPS recognizes the complex inter-relationships among economic, environmental and social factors in planning and embodies good planning principles. It includes enhanced policies on key issues that affect communities, such as: the efficient use and management of land and infrastructure; protection of the environment and resources; and ensuring appropriate opportunities for employment and residential development, including support for a mix of uses.The provincial government has appealed the city of Hamilton’s aerotropolis boundary expansion on the basis that it is not consistent with the PPS.
• The Provincial Greenbelt
  The province established a 1.8 million acre Greenbelt in December 2004. It is intended to protect environmentally sensitive and agricultural land in the Golden Horseshoe from major urban development. It extends 325 kilometres from the eastern end of the Oak Ridges Moraine near Rice Lake, to the Niagara River in the west. The greenbelt’s new natural heritage system is about 535,000 acres in land area, and provides full protection for about three-quarters of the lakes, wetlands and forests in the greenbelt.
• Provincial warning re Aerotropolis (pdf file). Letter from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. June 14, 2005.
• Notice of Appeal to OMB – by province July 27, 2005 (pdf file)