Official Plan Background

Growth Plan, 2006 (external link), the provincial growth plan, sets population and employment targets that Halton Region must plan to achieve. Specifically, we need to plan for a total of 780,000 people and 390,000 jobs by 2031.

Sustainable Halton is Halton Region's growth management and land use response to the province's Growth Plan, 2006, the Provincial Policy Statement, 2005 and the Greenbelt Plan, 2005. It involved research, public consultation, staff recommendations and Council approval of policy changes to the Region's Official Plan.

In 2008, we launched a 2-phased process for the Official Plan Review.

The first amendment, ROPA 37 - An Amendment to Incorporate the Basic Requirements of the Provincial Growth Plan, 2006, met the province's basic requirements for growth management planning to 2031.

The second amendment, ROPA 38 - An Amendment to Incorporate the Results of a Comprehensive Review of the Regional Official Plan, represented our five-year review of Halton's Regional Official Plan.

The following Ontario government links will take you to the key provincial policy documents that led to Sustainable Halton.

Sustainable Halton has identified Halton's urban growth to 2031. This includes deciding what land to preserve for wildlife, green space and farmland in addition to land reserved for business and residential use. As well, it plans where roads, transit corridors, utilities and other regional infrastructure will go.

We want to plan complete and sustainable communities where you can easily ride the bus, walk or cycle instead of using your car. Complete and sustainable communities help to reduce the impacts of urbanization such as air pollution and climate change.

As we implement Sustainable Halton, our plan will outline:

• Plans for communities to minimize urban sprawl
• Infrastructure maximization
• Natural resource protection
• Natural spaces and farmland preservation

There are three planning streams to The Sustainable Halton Process:

1. The Growth Management Plan
2. The five-year Official Plan Review - Basic (ROPA 37)
3. The five-year Official Plan Review - Comprehensive (ROPA 38)

Regional Council adopted ROPA 38 on December 16, 2009. The province had until June 16, 2010 to approve, amend or refuse ROPA 38.

In 2010, the process of making ROPA 38 and Sustainable Halton a reality began.

The timeline chart below outlines the four phases for Sustainable Halton and the main activities in each phase.

View the image below to view timeline details.