FAQs

Section 26 of the Planning Act requires that every municipality with an official plan must make periodic reviews and updates to the plan.   

This Official Plan Review seeks to answer two main questions:

1. Is there policy conformity and consistency between The London Plan and Provincial legislation and policies?
2. Is there sufficient land available in the existing urban area to accommodate projected future growth of the city?

Provincial Policy Conformity Review

The policy conformity review that is required under s. 26 of the Planning Act is to ensure that The London Plan: 

• Conforms with provincial plans or does not conflict with them, as the case may be;
• Has regard to matters of Provincial Interest (as defined in section 2 of the Planning Act); and
• Is consistent with the Provincial policies.

NOTE: A new Provincial Planning Statement is in force as of October 2024.

New 2024 Provincial Planning Statement (PPS) includes change in directions to cities, including:

• New basis for projections: Cities are to use the Ontario Ministry of Finance’s population projections as basis for city’s population projections.
• New time horizon for land needs: Cities are to ensure sufficient land is designated to meet projected needs for a time horizon of at least 20 years but not more than 30 years.

The Planning Act requires municipalities to undertake an official plan review 10 years after the adoption of a new official plan and then within every 5 years after that.  

Since The London Plan was adopted in 2016, it's time for a review. 

A Land Needs Assessment is part of the Official Plan Review.  The Land Needs Assessment evaluates:

• the existing supply of vacant urban land.
• the potential for intensification within the existing built-up area of the city.
• and compares that supply with the projected growth in population, employment, and housing over the next 25 years or up to 30 years which represents the maximum permitted under the Provincial Planning Statement (PPS).

NOTE: A 2021-2051 Growth Projections study, prepared by Watson and Associates, was approved by City Council in December 2022. The City has updated the Council-Approved Growth Projections for consistency with the 2024 Ministry of Finance’s population projections.

The Land Needs Assessment evaluates need for all categories of land use, including:

• residential
• industrial
• commercial
• institutional

The result of the Land Needs Assessment may be a review of the City’s Urban Growth Boundary (UGB). The need for a UGB review will be based on the findings of the Land Needs Assessment.

Note: The UGB delineates lands planned for urban uses from lands planned for agriculture or other rural uses. 

The UGB is shown on Map 1 – Place Types of The London Plan.

• It helps determine the opportunity for redevelopment, infill and intensification.
• It supports the Provincial Housing Target of creating 47,000 new units and supports other housing supply initiatives.
• It aligns infrastructure and engineering requirements with expected growth.
• It supports the City’s monitoring of development and planning application data.

The Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) is the boundary line that separates land for urban development from land for rural use within the overall city limits.

The City uses it as a tool to plan and manage where new growth, like housing and business, will be permitted in the future.

The City is required to undertake a review of existing land supply to determine if there's enough land for future projected population growth. 

The Land Needs Assessment identified that more land is needed for both residential and industrial purposes to meet the needs of London's growing population over the next 30 years. 

No, the City is not considering annexation of lands as part of the Urban Growth Boundary Review. 

Annexation is provincial jurisdiction and outside of the scope of this review.

Staff are targeting Q4 of 2025 to present the final recommendations to Council. 

Following Council endorsement, the final recommendations will be forwarded to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for approval.

After the Urban Growth Boundary review is approved, landowners must apply and proceed through the planning application process to develop.

Development can only happen if the land has access to appropriate City services like water and sewers.