Burlington’s new Official Plan was adopted by City Council on April 26, 2018 and approved, with modifications, by Halton Region on Nov. 30, 2020. Section 17(38) of the Planning Act (R.S.O. 1990, as amended) sets out that all parts of an approved official plan that are not the subject to an appeal will come into effect on the day after the last date for filing a notice of appeal - that date being Dec. 22, 2020 for the new Burlington Official Plan.
The record prepared for the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT, formerly the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal or LPAT) by Halton Region on Dec. 23, 2020 states that 48 appeals to the Burlington Official Plan, 2020 were received. Since that date, four of the 48 appeals have been withdrawn by the appellant(s).
For major planning matters such as official plans, the reasons for appeal must:
All remaining appeals to the Burlington Official Plan, 2020 will be assessed by the OLT to determine their validity in accordance with this consistency/conformity test, and other factors. The OLT will then issue an Order to confirm which parts of the Burlington Official Plan, 2020 are subject to a valid appeal. For detailed information about the OLT case status, scheduled hearings, and Orders and Decisions that have been issued, please visit the Ontario Land Tribunals website and search case number PL210040.
In the meantime, the City has prepared an interim working version of the Burlington Official Plan, 2020 and has made the appeals available for public access. As the OLT process advances, the Burlington Official Plan, 2020 is subject to change and the interim working version will require periodic updates. The interim working version must be read along with all appeals, as well as any Orders and Decisions resulting out of subsequent OLT proceedings, and users must satisfy themselves as to the legal status and applicability of the polices. At the appropriate time, City staff will also bring forward a repeal bylaw(s) for the former Burlington Official Plan (1997, as amended).
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Read the appeals to Burlington’s new Official Plan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The appeals to Burlington's new Official Plan are available individually below, or as a single document here. Cover Letter - Halton Region Submission of Appeals to Burlington New Official Plan
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Read Burlington's new Official Plan (interim working version)*
Read Halton Region's Notice of Decision
CONTACT US
Questions can be directed to the project team at
Nov. 30, 2020 - Final Notice of Decision from Halton Region |
On Thursday, Nov. 26, 2020, City Council endorsed the Halton Region Draft Notice of Decision and all related changes on the adopted Burlington Official Plan (2018). For more information on the meetings please see the minutes for the Nov. 26, 2020 Community Planning Regulation and Mobility Committee meeting and the Special Meeting of Council. The Region’s Draft decision, dated Nov. 16, 2020, is available as Appendix A to staff report PL-22-20. As directed by City Council, the Director of Community Planning notified Halton Region on Nov. 27, 2020 that City Council had endorsed the Draft Notice of Decision for the adopted Burlington Official Plan and requested that the Region issue a final Notice of Decision approving the new Burlington Official Plan, as modified. On Nov. 30, 2020, Halton Region released a final Notice of Decision approving the new Burlington Official Plan, as modified, followed by a twenty-day appeal period from Nov. 30 to Dec. 21, 2020. Sections of the new Official Plan for which a Notice of Appeal were not filed by Dec. 21, 2020 are considered in-effect as of Dec. 22, 2020. At the appropriate time, through consultation with City legal staff, planning staff will bring forward a repeal bylaw for the former Burlington Official Plan. To understand the effect of the Region’s decision, please see the Halton Region Notice of Decision and the tracked changes version of the new Burlington Official Plan. The tracked changes document has been updated from the version attached to staff report PL-22-20 (see Appendix B) to reflect minor differences between the Region’s draft and final Notice of Decision, as follows:
City staff are working to update the status of the Official Plan based on appeals filed during the appeal period and will provide more information in January 2021. In the meantime, if you have questions regarding specific policies, please contact City planning staff. |
November 26, 2020 - Draft Notice of Decision from Halton Region |
As the approval authority, Halton Region is reviewing the City’s adopted Official Plan to make sure it:
City staff have collaborated extensively with Regional staff to:
City staff have also requested that the Region consider the modifications endorsed by City Council through the Scoped Re-examination of the adopted Official Plan in its decision. As the Region's delegated representative, Halton’s Chief Planning Official has prepared a draft Notice of Decision, which includes modifications to the City’s adopted Official Plan. The Halton Region draft Notice of Decision and the accompanying City staff report are now available on the Community Planning, Regulation and Mobility agenda. On Thursday, Nov 26, 2020, City Council will decide if they will endorse the Regional modifications to the adopted Burlington Official Plan. Modifications to the adopted Burlington Official Plan fall into the categories of Regional Conformity, Provincial Conformity, Clarity and Consistency, City-Initiated Scoped Re-Examination of the Official Plan, Official Plan Amendments, and Housekeeping. For a description of the categories of the proposed modifications please refer to Staff Report PL-22-20 and the draft Notice of Decision attached as Appendix A to PL-22-20. With the proposed modifications described in the draft Notice of Decision, Halton Region is of the opinion that the City of Burlington New Official Plan conforms to, or does not conflict with, the Regional Official Plan, is consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement 2020, and conforms to, or does not conflict with, the applicable Provincial Plans and policies. |
October 7, 2020 - Burlington City Council endorses modifications to the adopted Official Plan |
Burlington City Council endorsed the modifications to the adopted Official Plan at the Council meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 7. The Official plan will now go to Halton Region for final approval. On Sept. 30, 2020, staff presented their recommendations for consideration at a public meeting of the Community Planning, Regulation, and Mobility Committee of Council. The recommendations were described in two reports:
On Sept. 30, Committee made 10 amendments to staff’s recommendations for Downtown (PL-16-20). A memo from staff, dated Oct. 7, 2020, explains how Committee’s amendments were incorporated into the policies. The recommendations of report PL-16-20, as amended, and report PL-18-20, were endorsed by Committee on Sept. 30 and by City Council on Oct. 7. Council has directed staff to submit the endorsed policy modifications to Halton Region for inclusion in the Region’s approval of the adopted Official Plan. Follow-up on Sept. 16: Virtual Open House Thank you to those of you who joined the virtual Open House on Sept. 16, 2020. We hope it was a helpful resource to answer your questions about the recommended modifications to the adopted Official Plan for Downtown and Neighbourhood Centres. If you missed the virtual Open House, you can view a video recording and transcript at Get Involved Burlington. During the meeting, staff said they would follow up with more information about two questions that were asked:
Minor Changes to Technical Reports The City has made minor changes to some of the technical reports released on June 8, 2020. The changes were made to respond to comments made by Halton Region and Conservation Halton. They are explained in a memo included in the meeting package for the Sept. 30, 2020 meeting of Community Planning, Regulation, and Mobility Committee. The revised reports were included in the meeting package for the Oct. 7, 2020 special meeting of Council. Release of Submissions Staff summarized and responded to comments that were received between March 20, 2020 and Sept. 4, 2020 in Appendix 21-A of report PL-16-20, “Taking a Closer Look at the Downtown: Recommended Modifications to the Adopted Official Plan”. Here is a link to the full submissions:
Official Plan – Next Steps The City will send the Council-endorsed policies and mapping to Halton Region to be included in the adopted Official Plan that the Region is reviewing. Halton Region is the approval authority who will make a decision to approve the City’s new Official Plan. The Region will provide a draft decision for City Council to consider before the Region makes a final decision on the City’s adopted Official Plan. The Region’s draft decision is expected later this year. After Halton Region makes a final decision to approve the City’s new Official Plan, parts of the Official Plan can be appealed to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT). The City will share updates about the Region’s approval process on the New Official Plan website at burlington.ca/newop and the “Taking a Closer Look at the Downtown” project webpage at getinvolvedburlington.ca/official-plan-2019. Design Guidelines – Next Steps In August 2020, City staff released a first draft of the new Downtown Burlington Placemaking and Urban Design Guidelines, which will help to implement the Official Plan policies for Downtown. The City will continue to seek public feedback on the draft guidelines before presenting the final guidelines to City Council for approval. The City will share updates about how you can get involved with the Downtown Burlington Placemaking and Urban Design Guidelines at www.getinvolvedburlington.ca/official-plan-2019. |
June 8, 2020 – Release of reports and recommended modifications to adopted Official Plan |
The “Taking a Closer Look at the Downtown” (Scoped Re-examination of the Adopted Official Plan) project team has released recommended modifications to the downtown policies in the Adopted Official Plan. These policies will guide development in downtown Burlington to the year 2031. The recommended modifications and associated reports are linked below. The recommended modifications are discussed in staff report PL-16-20 and in Appendix 1 of PL-16-20, SGL Planning & Design Final Report.
The Official Plan recommended modifications themselves are contained in Appendices 2, 3, and 4 of report PL-16-20.
Appendices 5-14 of report PL-16-20 contain technical studies that have been completed in support of the Re-examination of the Adopted Official Plan.
Appendix 15 of report PL-16-20 contains draft Downtown Burlington Placemaking and Urban Design Guidelines, prepared by SGL Planning & Design and released in August 2020. Appendices 16-19 contain information about public engagement that informed the recommended modifications to the adopted Official Plan. This includes responses to feedback received.
Appendix 20 contains updates on other City projects, as of May 2020. This appendix may be further updated in September 2020. Appendix 21 of report PL-16-20 contains a project update that was released on September 10, 2020. This appendix includes an update on how the project has evolved over the summer of 2020, a summary of comments received and staff responses to those comments, and some revisions to the Official Plan modifications that were recommended in June 2020 through Appendices 2 and 3. |
Jan. 27, 2020: Council largely endorses the recommended vision and concept for Downtown |
On Jan. 27, 2020, City Council endorsed the land use vision and built form concept that had been put forward in report PL-02-20, subject to a few elements of the concept that Council directed staff to further consider between now and April 2020. |
Jan. 16, 2020 - Recommended vision and concept for downtown presented to Council (including technical studies) |
On Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020, at 1 p.m. (reconvened at 6:30 p.m.), discussion about the re-examination of the downtown policies in the adopted Official Plan continued at a meeting of Burlington City Council’s Community Planning, Regulation and Mobility Committee meeting. At the meeting, City staff presented a single recommended land use vision and concept for the future built form of downtown Burlington [Report PL-02-20). The recommendation is based on the evaluation of two preliminary concepts presented for public feedback in fall 2019, which was informed by several inputs including public feedback, technical studies, and an understanding of existing and approved development in the downtown. Details about the preliminary preferred concept, including maps and diagrams, can be found in Appendix A of the report. A feedback report documenting what was heard during the October to December public engagement is contained in Appendix E As part of the project, the following technical studies have been completed to date: Cultural Heritage Resource Assessment Illustrative Economic Analysis Memo Please note: Further review of these studies is anticipated by other agencies, such as Halton Region and Conservation Halton. The completed studies will be shared with City Council in Spring 2020 as part of the final report. |
October - December 2019 - Public engagement opportunities, Taking a Closer Look at the Downtown |
In the fall of 2019, more public engagement opportunities were held to gather the public's input on two concepts of what the downtown could look like, including:
A report explaining how the vision, precincts, and two concepts were created was also released in the fall. |
August and September 2019 - Public engagement opportunities, Taking a Closer Look at the Downtown |
In the summer of 2019, online and in-person public engagement opportunities were held to gather feedback that would directly inform a recommendation to Burlington City Council in March 2020, including:
A community engagement plan was also shared in August. View the feedback report summarizing what was heard through the August and September engagement. |
June 11, 2019 - Workshop to help create community engagement plan |
On Tuesday, June 11, 2019, at 10 a.m. a Committee of the Whole workshop was held to assist in the creation of a community engagement plan for the re-examination of the adopted Official Plan. This educational workshop for Council was open to the public, however no delegations were heard. View the webcast |
May 21, 2019 - Work plan for re-examination of the downtown policies |
With the area of downtown policies identified, City staff presented report PB-47-19, Work Plan for the Scoped Re-examination of the Adopted Official Plan, to Burlington City Council at the May 21 meeting of the Planning and Development Committee. The report identified details of the work and timing that needs to take place to bring modified policies back to Burlington City Council for approval by March 2020. Report PB-47-19 was approved by Burlington City Council at its meeting on May 27, 2019. View the webcast |
March 18, 2019 - Council workshop to determine scope of re-examination |
On Monday, March 18, 2019, City staff and members of Burlington City Council discussed the scope of the work for further study at a Committee of the Whole workshop. Through the discussion, it was identified that while Council supports many of the policies in the adopted Official Plan, an area that requires targeted reconsideration is the Downtown Precinct Plan. |
Feb. 7, 2019 - City Council votes to re-examine the policies in Burlington's adopted Official Plan |
On Feb. 7, 2019, Burlington City Council voted to re-examine the policies in Burlington's Official Plan, adopted in April 2018. View a copy of the adopted Official Plan The motion, approved by Council, directs Burlington’s Director of City Building to immediately commence a process to re-examine the policies of the Official Plan adopted April 26, 2018 in their entirety related to matters of height and intensity and conformity with provincial density targets. |
Dec. 4, 2018 - Halton Region Notice of Non-Conformity |
Dec. 4, 2018 On Dec. 4, 2018, the City of Burlington received notice from Halton Region regarding the city’s Official Plan. The notice advised that the city’s adopted Official Plan does not conform with the Regional Official Plan in a number of respects related to policies and mapping, and among others, in the areas of:
Ongoing work will continue between the city and Region which will result in a draft notice of decision containing modifications to the city’s Official Plan. These modifications will be shared with the city and brought forward to City Council for consideration. Read the media release: Update on the Region of Halton's review of the city's Official Plan, Dec. 7, 2018 |
April 26, 2018 - Official Plan Adopted by Burlington City Council |
On Thursday, April 26, 2018, Burlington City Council adopted Burlington's Official Plan. A report recommending adoption of the plan was presented at a meeting of the Planning and Development Committee on April 24, 25 and 26, followed by a special meeting of City Council on April 26. The new Official Plan is now subject to review and approval by Halton Region. Until the plan is approved at the regional level of government, the City of Burlington’s current Official Plan remains in effect. Development applications that are submitted before Regional approval will continue to be processed under the current in force and effect Official Plan (1994, as amended), but during the review of the application, the new Official Plan will inform land-use decisions, and staff will encourage applicants to consider the objectives and policies of the adopted new Official Plan. Once the plan is approved by Halton Region it may be appealed to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal. Revisions to policies in the new Official Plan, as directed by Council at the Planning and Development Committee meeting on April 24, 25 and 26, were incorporated into the Official Plan that was sent to Halton Region for approval.
View a copy of the adopted Official PlanA copy of Burlington's Official Plan, adopted on April 26, 2018, can be downloaded here. (Please note: this version contains the most recent revisions requested by Burlington City Council at the adoption meeting on April 26, 2018)
A summary of the motions passed by Council related to the Official Plan recommended for adoption can be downloaded here:
Please visit the Staff Reports and Studies pages for more background on the new Official Plan. |
March 28, 2018 - Official Plan (April 2018) released |
A fourth version of the proposed new Official Plan, Burlington's Official Plan (April 2018) was released on March 28, 2018, for adoption. View a copy here.
A document that compares the proposed new Official Plan (February 2018) and Burlington's Official Plan (April 2018) in tracked changes can be downloaded here:
Please visit the Staff Reports and Studies pages for more background on the new Official Plan. |
Feb 9, 2018 - new mapping released by Province |
On July 1, 2017, the Province of Ontario approved a revised Provincial Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (GGH), which outlines policies for planning and managing growth in the GGH to the year 2041, and includes the City of Burlington. The revised Growth Plan policies recognize the importance of both a Natural Heritage System and an Agricultural System to the GGH. The protection of these resources is vitally important to the Growth Plan's long-term vision for the GGH. Natural Heritage System Agricultural System Feb. 9, 2018 The City of Burlington has incorporated the Provincial Natural Heritage System and Agricultural System mapping as released by the Province into the mapping of the new Official Plan as adopted by Council, in order to conform to the Provincial Growth Plan. The mapping does not impact the Urban Area of Burlington. Refinements to the provincial mapping The refinement of the Natural Heritage System and Agricultural System mapping will be undertaken on a Regional basis as part of Halton Region's next Regional Official Plan Review. The city cannot make refinements to the mapping in the Burlington Official Plan until the Region completes its municipal comprehensive review through its Official Plan Review process. |
Feb. 7, 2018 - Official Plan (February 2018) released |
A third version of the proposed new Official Plan (February 2018) was released on Feb. 7, 2018. It contained revisions that were made as a result of feedback the city received at the Nov. 30, 2017 statutory public meeting, the Jan. 23 and 24, 2018 public meeting, and through written submissions.
A document that summarizes feedback received on the draft new Official Plan, and staff's response to that feedback can be downloaded here: A document that compares the proposed new Official Plan (November 2017) and the proposed new Official Plan (February 2018) in tracked changes can be downloaded here: |
Nov. 7, 2017 - Official Plan (November 2017) released |
A second version of Burlington's proposed new Official Plan (November 2017) was released on Nov. 9, 2017. It contained revisions to the draft new Official Plan that was released in April 2017. Feedback received from agencies, stakeholders and the public was considered in undertaking revisions to the draft new Official Plan. View a copy of the Official Plan (November 2017) [31 MB]
Tables have been prepared that summarize all feedback received on the draft new Official Plan, and staff's response to that feedback. The tables can be downloaded here: A document that compares the draft new Official Plan (April 2017) and the proposed new Official Plan (November 2017) in tracked changes can be downloaded here: Tracked Changes [10.2 MB] |
April 2017 |
In April 2017, the city released the first draft of the new Official Plan for public consultation. Through the engagement and consultation process, the city received over 1,000 surveys, over 100 written submissions and collected information at a variety of different events. A summary of public consultation and engagement can be found in staff report PB-47-17.
The top highlights of the new Official Plan included:
View a copy of the Official Plan (April 2017) [32MB]
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*The interim working version of the Burlington Official Plan, 2020 is provided for information purposes only. For legal purposes, reference should be made to the original certified documents which are on file with the City Clerk including the April 26, 2018 City of Burlington adopting By-law (By-law No. 24-2018), the Nov. 30, 2020 Halton Region Notice of Decision, and all subsequent Orders and Decisions issued by the Ontario Land Tribunal. While the City of Burlington endeavours to ensure the information on this site is current, accurate, and complete, the City assumes no responsibility for errors and is not liable for any damages resulting from the use of, or reliance on, the information contained on this site.