The County of Brant is preparing a new Official Plan
As the County of Brant continues to change and grow, the time has come to develop a new Official Plan and we need your input! The decisions we make today will impact the future of our community. This plan belongs to all of us.
Recent Project Updates:
Did you miss the Public Meeting in December 2021? Find out more below! |
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This meeting was held in two parts beginning on December 2nd and concluding on Decemeber 9th. A list of suggested revisions was provided with the agenda package as a result of input from the public and stakeholders (available at
Missed our Virtual Townhall Session on September 15th?
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Draft Official Plan - Virtual Townhall EventOn Wednesday September 15th beginning at 7:00pm, the Policy Planning Division hosted a virtual townhall session on Zoom to discuss the draft version of the County's New Official Plan. This event focused on how the Draft New Official Plan policies will affect residents in the County of Brant including rural and urban areas. Staff provided an overview of our new policies including Growth Management Strategy and the Draft Municipal Comprehensive Review and discussed the next steps for the New Official Plan, including an overview of timelines and important milestone for the project moving forward to January 2022. The event also provided an opportunity for staff to answer common questions, including question submitted to www.brant.ca/AskOP, OfficialPlan@brant.ca, and questions asked during the live event.
If you have further questions, please reach out to staff at OfficialPlan@brant.ca or by calling our office at 519.44BRANT.
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Watch the Special Council Meeting presenting the draft of the New Official Plan |
Draft Official Plan - Special Meeting of Council
This special meeting of Council was hosted virtually on Zoom on July 29th, and reconvened to finish up on August 10th. The event was broadcasted live on the County of Brant YouTube Channel. This meeting presented the Draft versions of the Official Plan and Municipal Comprehensive Review to begin a 90 day review and commenting period. If you have questions please email OfficialPlan@brant.ca or cal 519.44BRANT and ask to speak with our Policy Planning Division. |
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Watch the Recent Virtual Townhall Session about Policy Directions |
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| Preliminary Policy Directions - Special Meeting of Council on June 10th 2021 |
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| Join Engage Brant to get involved. We've launched a New Official Plan project page! |
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We've launched a new engagement tool called Engage Brant!
Looking for the project timeline and more updates? Visit the Engage Brant project page! |
| How much land do we need for future growth? We have more information! |
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As part of our Municipal Comprehensive Review (MCR) to help complete the Official Plan, a Land Needs Assessment (or LNA) is done to help determine how much land is needed for future housing and job growth. The preliminary results of the residential LNA and employment LNA have been presented to Council and are available for review. Check out the information and links below.
Residential and Community LandsThe preliminary results of the residential land needs assessment have shown us that we have designated more than enough land to support residential development to the year 2051. We have an excess of 395 gross hectares of residentially designated land and will need to decided what to do with that land.
Want a summary of this part of the project? Click Here! For more information, read the report and supporting preliminary documents here.
Employment LandsThe preliminary results of the employment land needs assessment have shown that we need to find an additional 103 gross hectares of land to support employment growth to the year 2051. We will need to decide how to accomodate this need.
Want a summary of this part of the project? Click Here! For more information, read the report and supporting preliminary documents here. |
| Our Phase 2 Surveys have closed, and the results are in! |
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Engagement for Phase 2 of the New Official Plan project has wrapped up. Don't worry, there will be plenty more ways to get involved with the project this year (look for more Virtual Town Halls coming in May and June, as well as more surveys about our Policy Directions).
In the meantime, check out the information below:
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| What growth is the County of Brant expected to see through to the year 2051? Check out this drop down for more information on the December 8th 2020 Council presentation |
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The County has been reviewing recent development trends and identified growth drivers in municipal, provincial and global contexts to determine how we'll need to plan for our growth to the year 2051 as part of the Greater Golden Horseshoe. All of this technical analysis is being done as part of the County of Brant Municipal Comprehensive Review. The December 8th 2020 Special Meeting of Council involved the presentation of the draft background information that has been gathered to help coordinate our growth and inform our Municipal Comprehensive Review, Land Needs Assessment, and ultimately our new Official Plan. Check out the resources below for more information on this meeting:
If you have any questions about this information, please do not hesitate to contact Planning Staff using the contact information at the bottom of this webpage. |
A Special Meeting of Council is being held to present the preliminary policy directions and begin the engagement process that will help staff create a draft Official Plan for presentation to Council in July. The meeting will be held on June 10th beggining at 6pm and will be held virtually.
| Have Questions? We Have Answers! Read our Official Plan Q&A summary here. |
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Click here to open the full Question and Answer Summary for our first 3 topics of interest. You can also use the links below to go directly to the sections that address the following topics: · Building Healthy and Complete Communities There’s lots of information in this summary, so feel free to use the ‘find text’ function (CTRL F) to search keywords that may interest you. As we continue to compile the questions and answers for the remaining topics, we’ll be updating this summary document accordingly. In the meantime, please continue to send us your questions to OfficialPlan@brant.ca. We look forward to hearing from you! |
Are you wondering what the County of Brant will look like in 10 years? How about 30 years from now? We are planning into the future, to the year 2051!
Learn More!
| What is an Official Plan? |
Each municipality is required to have an Official Plan by the Province of Ontario under The Planning Act. An Official Plan, sometimes called an 'OP', is meant to contain the policy framework and long-term vision to:
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| How does this project fit with our Strategic Priorities? |
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An Official Plan is a very big project and will help us with each of the 6 strategic priorities of the County of Brant, while focusing most on sustainable and managed growth. Click here to read more about how the Official Plan will work together with other master planning initiatives to protect and enhance our unique identity as the County of Brant. |
| How do you make an Official Plan? |
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It is prepared by the County of Brant with input from you and others in our community! This is done through public engagement, careful listening, short and long term planning, strategic thinking, and creation of key policy directions. The Official Plan will help ensure that future planning and development will meet the specific needs in our community. The Province of Ontario requires a municipality to plan for at least 30 years into the future, and to review it's Official Plan at least every 5 years. |
| Doesn't the County already have an Official Plan? |
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Yes! The current County of Brant Official Plan was finalized in 2012. It lays out the County of Brant's land-use visions and goals, and was created with a planning horizon of 2031. The time has come for us to update these policies and it's a perfect time to have your say and make sure that the visions and goals of County of Brant residents are reflected in our updated policies. Starting in 2019, we are beginning the multi-year process to develop our new Official Plan. When created, this new Official Plan will be reviewed by the Province of Ontario to be approved by July 1st, 2022. |
| How do I stay up-to-date on all things Official Plan ? |
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Looking to stay in the loop as the County updates to its land use planning policies?
Check back here for new information, or visit us on social media @BrantPlanning. If you'd like to be added to a general circulation email list for regular updates, please click here or send an email to officialplan@brant.ca.
We look forward to hearing from you ! |
Topics of Interest
There are a variety of topics that we want to discuss with you, including growth management, resilience to climate change, and other emerging issues in the County of Brant. These topics are intended to invite conversation and brainstorming from our community which will then be incorporated into the Official Plan framework and policies.
If you have a particular interest in one of the following topics, feel free to click the image below to visit the dedicated project page. These pages will provide more specific information about policy directions, initiatives, and engagement opportunities. We will be updating this information on a regular basis (and there's going to be lots of information) so stay tuned to these pages for more information in the near future!
A Municipal Comprehensive Review, or MCR, is the technical process behind creating a new Official Plan. The MCR gives us the background information we need to create an Official Plan that will best suit our needs for the future. Click the image above to find out more about managing the population and job growth of the County to the year 2051 (and beyond!)
Questions, comments, or concerns? Get in touch with us!
Our contact information is listed below and we look forward to hearing from you.
Contact Us
Official Plan Inquiries
66 Grand River Street North, Paris, ON, N3L 2M2
T: 519-44BRANT
Email
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