Updating the Regional Official Plan

On June 29, 2022, Regional Council endorsed, in principle, a recommended approach to growth.  The recommended approach to growth is ambitious, achievable, and responsible. It achieves our community building objectives via four key features:

• Best advances the community’s key priorities outlined in our strategic plan
• Prioritizes intensification to retrofit existing neighbourhoods into 15-minute neighbourhoods
• Targets community area expansions to enable urban areas in the Townships to become 15-minute neighbourhoods with a full range of housing types
• Builds on a strong employment base

The Recommended Approach to Growth (PDL-CPL-22-20) best positions Waterloo Region to achieve its vision for an inclusive, thriving, and sustainable region of connected rural and urban communities with global reach, fostering opportunities for current and future generations. This is achieved by delivering strategic growth that supports critical community building and climate change objectives, while also meeting Provincial obligations to accommodate forecasted population and jobs to a 2051 planning horizon. The draft policies contained in the Draft Regional Official Plan Amendment (PDL-CPL-22-21) are the way that we will be implementing the recommended approach to growth.

This approach was developed taking into consideration feedback from the community and we'd like to hear your thoughts on what has been presented.  The following three questions will approximately five (5) minutes to complete.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the ROPR team at regionalofficialplanreview@regionofwaterloo.ca.

April 12, 2022 marked the official release of our draft Land Needs Assessment (LNA) and we are excited to continue some important conversations with members of our community around how you see our region accommodating forecasted population and employment growth - we are expecting to add approximately 300,000 new residents and 178,000 new jobs to this community over the next 30 years. The staff report (PDL-CPL-22-11) provides a high-level overview of the draft LNA;  the presentation slide deck from the April 12, 222 Planning and Works Committee provide added context and information.

A LNA is a document, based on an analysis of required technical information and calculations, that helps us determine how much land we may need in the future. The draft LNA took direction from Council in Fall 2021 and presents two growth options for employment area and three growth options for community area. 

The employment area options represent:

1. one that is similar to current trends; and,
2. a second that uses more ambitious intensification rates based on feedback from the public. 

The Community Area options represent: 

1. minimum intensification rate and density targets under the Growth Plan;
2. higher than minimum intensification rates and density targets with some urban expansion; and,
3. higher than minimum intensification rate and density target with no urban expansion.

After taking a read through of the staff report (PDL-CPL-22-11), and having a look at the evaluation criteria for the growth options (Attachment B in PDL-CPL-22-11), please take five to 10 minutes to answer the following four questions related to your thoughts on the growth options.  Your feedback, accepted until May 27, 2022, will help us shape regional staff's recommendation to Regional Council in mid-June on the preferred growth option.

We want your input on the proposed draft housing policies.  The majority of the housing policies that are currently in the ROP have been strengthened and revised in order to provide for a greater range and mix of housing options for existing and new residents to Waterloo Region.  The draft policies touch on areas such as affordable housing targets (rental and ownership), advocacy for rental tenure zoning, inclusionary zoning, gentle intensification and "missing middle" housing, and supporting the Region's clean energy transition and equitable climate action.

After reading through the proposed draft housing policies and taking a look at the virtual display boards, please take five (5) to ten minutes and use the space below to share your thoughts and feedback with us by May 6, 2022. We will use these comments as we continue to revise draft policy to be included in the draft Regional Official Plan amendment. The draft ROP amendment will also be available for review and comment.

We want your input on the proposed draft Major Transit Station Area (MTSA) policies which will help the Region support the forecasted job growth to the year 2051, and support the creation of complete communities. MTSAs are generally defined as 500m to 800m around a Rapid Transit stop. They are areas intended to accommodate higher density, mixed-use, transit-supportive neighbourhoods that support access to local amenities, jobs and housing. 

After reading through the proposed Major Transit Station Area draft policies and taking a look at the virtual display boards, please take five (5) to ten minutes and use the space below to share your thoughts and feedback with us by March 11, 2022. We will use these comments as we continue to revise draft policy to be included in the draft Regional Official Plan amendment. The draft ROP amendment will also be available for review and comment.

We want your input on the proposed Regional Employment Area draft policies.  Regional Employment Areas are area that will be protected in the ROP for clusters of businesses and economic activities, such as manufacturing, warehouses and some offices (e.g., RT Park in Waterloo, East Side Lands in North Cambridge, Highway 401/97 are in North Dumfries). In order to support the forecasted job growth to the year 2051, and support the creation of complete communities, it's important that the Region identifies and protects the right supply of employment lands, at the right time, in a variety of rural and urban locations. 

After reading through the proposed Regional Employment Area draft policies and taking a look at the virtual display boards, please take five (5) to ten minutes and use the space below to share your thoughts and feedback with us by March 11, 2022. We will use these comments as we continue to revise draft policy to be included in the draft Regional Official Plan amendment. The draft ROP amendment will also be available for review and comment.

We are pleased to post the following survey that relates directly to the Climate Change Policy Direction paper.  The survey will take approximately five (5) to 10 minutes to complete and by answering this survey, you will help us focus our efforts on what matter most to you, as we continue to update our Regional Official Plan. The survey will be online until February 28, 2021.

A key piece of the Climate Change Policy Direction paper presents statements about our desired future for how we move, how we live and work, and how we build. This survey will focus on these three (3) areas and the changes we need to make to achieve them. To help you understand how the desired futures, changes and policy directions are connected, we’ve created summary placemats for how we move, how we live and work and how we build. 

To provide a bit more context for the survey, the Climate Change Policy Direction paper explores the following key messages: 

1. Climate change is global problem with local causes and local solutions;
2. The Regional Official Plan (ROP) is a key document for directing local action on climate change;
3. The current ROP Review, which plans to 2051, provides an opportunity to align with the Region’s Green House Gas (GHG) reduction target of 80% by 2050;
4. Since land use and infrastructure locks in the amount of carbon a community uses, land use and infrastructure planning that is energy efficient and resilient to the impacts of climate change are essential to achieve this target;
5. Our current land use and transportation systems are energy inefficient and account for approximately 50% of GHG emissions;
6. The policy direction paper provides desired futures for how we move, how we live and work, and how build along with the “Big Moves” or changes needed to achieve the desired future and associated policies directions to implement them. (e.g., increasing intensification, providing for transit supportive densities in the Designated Greenfield Area);
7. Climate action is a lens that we will be putting on all of the work associated with the ROP Review; and,
8. Proposes policy directions related to our transportation system, growth, complete communities, net-zero carbon buildings, and energy resiliency.

If, after completing the survey, you have any more feedback or thoughts on climate change and potential Regional policy direction, we're also happy to accept any feedback through the email address RegionalOfficialPlanReview@regionofwaterloo.ca or by mail at Community Planning Division (ROPR), 150 Frederick Street, 8th Floor, Kitchener, Ontario, N2G 4J3.  We will use any comments or feedback to help draft policy regarding climate change to be integrated throughout the Regional Official Plan (ROP).

We’ve heard through responses to our “Six Questions About Growth in Waterloo Region” survey (conducted through Engage from July 2020-August 2020) that environmental protection is a top priority. As we review the Regional Official Plan (ROP), a key document that will guide growth and development in the Region to 2051, part of the review includes updating the policies that protect some of the environmental areas, or “natural heritage areas” as they are referred to in this survey. These policies are included in the “The Greenlands Network” Section of the ROP. 

The purpose of this part of the update is to ensure that regional policies align with current provincial policies and regulations. We will also look at how we can best protect our natural heritage areas, such as woodlands, wetlands, streams and other valuable natural areas.

Proposed Approach

As we look to the future, it’s important that we review and update our current natural heritage policies. What’s working, what’s not working, and what could be improved?  Our proposed review approach is based on four objectives:

1. ensure our current environmental protections are maintained, while considering opportunities to refine or enhance our natural heritage system where appropriate;
   
   
2. review and update the Region’s current natural heritage policies to align with Provincial planning documents, including incorporating a new Provincial Natural Heritage System and a new Water Resource System;  
   
   
3. refine the boundaries of the Region’s existing Core Environmental Features (Significant Woodlands and Environmentally Sensitive Policy Areas) to improve mapping accuracy; and,
   
   
4. explore any new ideas and opportunities to better protect our natural environment for current and future generations.

We want to hear from you!

Please click the link below to complete the five to 10 minute survey. The survey will be online until November 2, 2020.

* Please note that this survey is only to be completed by those who participated in the Virtual Research Symposium *

Thank you very much for attending the August 18, 2020  virtual research symposium on the potential impacts of COVID-19 on the Regional planning process, presented in partnership by the Region of Waterloo and the University of Waterloo.  

We would also like to extend a big thank you to the researchers, who quickly turned their attention to the challenge of trying to understand the implications of this momentous experience – COVID-19 – on our region and the planning for its growth and development.  

Below are some follow-up questions about the event and if you have five to 10 minutes, we'd very much appreciate your feedback.  The survey will be closing September 30, 2020.

If you did not attend the event, but would like to review the videos, please see the "Important Links" section on the right-hand side of the Regional Official Plan Engage Page. 

Tell us what you think about the proposed criteria for employment land conversions and add your comments and thoughts on any additional criteria. This survey should take approximately five to 10 minutes, and will close on January 17, 2020.