Public Notice

NOTICE OF OPEN HOUSE AND NOTICE OF SPECIAL PUBLIC MEETING

To be held by Planning and Housing Committee

(Pursuant to Subsections 26(3)(b) of the Planning Act)

Proposed Official Plan Amendment, including changes to Land Use Designations, Employment Areas policies and related Secondary Plans and Maps

Date of Statutory Open House:               May 1, 2025

Time of Statutory Open House:              6:00p.m. to 7:00p.m.

Place of Statutory Open House:             Video Conference at https://bit.ly/3EVrqV6

Date of Special Public Meeting:             May 8, 2025

Time of Special Public Meeting:             9:30a.m. or as soon as possible thereafter

Place of Special Public Meeting:           Committee Room 1, City Hall and by Video Conference

PROPOSAL - PURPOSE AND EFFECT

The purpose of this Official Plan Amendment (OPA) is to amend the Official Plan to align with the Provincial Planning Statement 2024 employment area policies and the “area of employment” definition and provisions in the Planning Act. The proposed OPA would amend the Official Plan and redesignate certain General Employment Areas and repeal By-laws 1107-2024 and 1108-2024 (Official Plan Amendments 668 and 680). 

The OPA would amend the following policies and maps in the Official Plan:

• Chapter 2, Shaping the City, 2.2.4 Employment Areas
• Chapter 3, Building a Successful City, 3.5.1 Creating A Strong and Diverse Civic Economy
• Chapter 4 Land Use Designations, 4.6 Employment Areas
• Chapter 6 Secondary Plans: 7 (Downsview), 38 (Consumers Next), and 40 (Don Mills Crossing)
• Chapter 7 Site and Area Specific Policies
• Maps 2, 16, 19, and 20, and Maps 24, 27, 28, 30, 31, and 33

The following General Employment Areas are proposed to be redesignated:

The Planning Act requires that if an Official Plan is being revised under Section 26 of that Act, a Special Public Meeting must be held on any proposed amendments to revise the Official Plan and that an Open House be held if the Official Plan is being revised to ensure that the public has an opportunity to review and ask questions about the information and material made available in advance of the Special Public Meeting. The holding of public hearings on the Official Plan Amendment may be delegated by Council to the Planning and Housing Committee under Section 24 of the City of Toronto Act, 2006 and the Toronto Municipal Code.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Toronto’s Official Plan contains policies that identify uses that are permitted in Core Employment Areas and General Employment Areas, which are places for business and economic activities. On June 8, 2023, Bill 97 (Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act, 2023) received Royal Assent. Bill 97 amended the Planning Act definition for an “area of employment” by narrowing the scope of what uses can comprise an “area of employment” by expressly excluding all types of institutional uses and most types of commercial uses. Bill 97 also introduced a transition provision that allows municipalities to put in place Official Plan policies that would authorize the continuation of “lawfully established” uses in an area of employment.

The proposed Official Plan Amendment amends the City’s Official Plan policies and mapping to ensure conformity with the Planning Act, as amended, and consistency with the PPS 2024, and provides for transitional permissions in accordance with Bill 97.

Detailed information, including a copy of the proposed Official Plan Amendment (starting on April 16, 2025) may be obtained by contacting Kyle Pakeman, Project Coordinator, at 416-392-6477 or by e‑mail at Kyle.Pakeman@toronto.ca. 

Further information, including a draft of the OPA, is also available on April 16, 2025 at: www.toronto.ca/Bill97AoE.   

A copy of City Planning's Final Report on the proposed Official Plan Amendment, will be available on the City's website approximately one week prior to the Special Public Meeting at: www.toronto.ca/legdocs/agendas.html. 

PURPOSE OF OPEN HOUSE

You are invited to attend the Open House(s) to review the proposed Official Plan Amendment and to ask questions about the proposed policies and any related information and material.

PURPOSE OF SPECIAL PUBLIC MEETING

The Planning and Housing Committee will receive input and review the proposal and any other material placed before it, in order to make recommendations on the Official Plan Amendment. These recommendations will then be forwarded to Toronto City Council for its consideration.

You can follow the meeting at www.youtube.com/TorontoCityCouncilLive. 

MAKE YOUR VIEWS KNOWN

You may send written comments by e-mail to phc@toronto.ca or by mail to the address below. You can submit written comments up until City Council gives final consideration to the proposal.

You are invited to make representations to the Planning and Housing Committee in person, by video conference or by telephone to make your views known regarding the proposal.

If you wish to address directly, please register by e-mail to phc@toronto.ca or by phone at 416-397-4579, no later than 12:00 p.m. on May 7, 2025. If you register, we will contact you with instructions on how to participate in the meeting.

For more information about this matter, including information about appeal rights, contact the City Clerk's Office, City Clerk, Attention: Nancy Martins, Administrator, Planning and  Housing Committee, 100 Queen Street West, 10th Floor, West Tower, Toronto ON M5H 2N2, Phone: 416-397-4579, Fax: 416-392-2980, e-mail: phc@toronto.ca. 

The Planning and Housing Committee may request you to file an outline of your presentation with the Clerk.

Special Assistance: City Staff can arrange for special assistance with some advance notice.  If you need special assistance, please call 416-397-4579, TTY 416-338-0889 or e-mail phc@toronto.ca. 

FURTHER INFORMATION

Given that the amendments listed in this Notice regulate the use of lands at several locations within the geographic boundaries of the City of Toronto, a key map has not been provided with this notice.

If you wish to be notified of the decision of the City of Toronto on the proposed Official Plan Amendment you must make a written request to the City Clerk, Attention:  Nancy Martins, Administrator, Planning and Housing Committee, at the address, fax number or e-mail set out in this notice.

No Appeal of Official Plan Amendment. The Official Plan Amendment is subject to ministerial approval and there is no ability to appeal the Minister's decision to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT).

People writing or making presentations at the public meeting:  The City of Toronto Act, 2006, the Planning Act, and the City of Toronto Municipal Code authorize the City of Toronto to collect any personal information in your communication or presentation to City Council or its committees.

The City collects this information to enable it to make informed decisions on the relevant issue(s).  If you are submitting letters, faxes, e-mails, presentations or other communications to the City, you should be aware that your name and the fact that you communicated with the City will become part of the public record and will appear on the City's website.  The City will also make your communication and any personal information in it - such as your postal address, telephone number or e-mail address - available to the public, unless you expressly request the City to remove it.

Many Committee, Board and Advisory Body meetings are broadcast live over the internet for the public to view.  If you speak at the meeting, you will appear in the video broadcast. Video broadcasts are archived and continue to be publicly available. Direct any questions about this collection to City Clerk’s Office at the telephone number or email address set out above.

Compliance with Provincial laws respecting Notice may result in you receiving duplicate notices.