FAQs

A PMTSA is a policy area. 

They are areas surrounding and including an existing or planned higher-order transit station or stop. PMTSAs are intended to accommodate increased residential and employment growth with highly urban, mixed-use, transit-supportive forms of development.

Once a PMTSA boundary is identified, the Planning Act permits us to:

1.  identify the minimum number of residents and jobs, collectively, per hectare that are planned to be accommodated within the area
2.  identify the authorized uses of land in the major transit station area and of buildings or structures on lands in the area; and 
3. identify the minimum densities that are authorized with respect to buildings and structures on lands in the area. 

Map 10 of The London Plan outlines the City’s PMTSAs.

Rapid Transit Boulevards and Urban Throughfares are street classifications identified by The London Plan. Both street classifications are designed to: 

• put priority on through movement and connection to/of transit vehicles
• move high volumes of traffic (pedestrian, cycle, and vehicular)
• have a high-quality pedestrian realm
• have a high standard of urban design 

Additional details on street classifications are available in Table 6 of The London Plan.

A Community Improvement Plan (CIP) is a strategy that guides redevelopment and improvements within a defined area of need. To achieve the strategy, CIPs allow a municipality to take actions such as: 

• Identify changes needed to land use planning policy, zoning, other by-laws and practices
• Acquire, rehabilitate, and dispose of land
• Provide financial incentives (grants and loans) to property owners that would otherwise be unavailable
• Direct investments made to infrastructure and public space

Ontario’s Planning Act defines a community improvement project area as “a municipality or an area within a municipality, the community improvement of which in the opinion of the council is desirable because of age, dilapidation, overcrowding, faulty arrangement, unsuitability of buildings or for any other environmental, social or community economic development reason.”

A financial incentive program is a loan or grant issued by the City to a property owner to encourage improvements in a specific area that aligns with the goals of a CIP. 

This can include:

• Municipal fee and charge exemptions or reductions (e.g., development charges or property taxes)
• Capital grants or loans (e.g., $35,000 per unit)

On March 17, 2023, the Federal Government launched the Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) – a $4 billion initiative announced in the 2022 Budget. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) administers the HAF to incentivize and support housing initiatives. The HAF program seeks to drive systemic change and create the conditions necessary to increase housing supply over the short and longer term. Some will result in immediate increases in housing supply while others will support improvements to the broader housing system and may take more time for their full potential to be realized.