Draft Minor Technical Official Plan Amendments for Review and Upcoming Statutory Public Meeting

The City of Burlington is proposing amendments to the Burlington Official Plan, 2020 (BOP, 2020) and the Burlington Regional Official Plan, 1995 (BROP, 1995), pursuant to the Planning Act. The proposed amendments are minor in nature and are intended to:

1. allow staff the authority to make limited technical updates to the BOP, 2020 and the BROP, 1995 in accordance with the Planning Act and the City’s Delegated Authority By-law; and
2. add transitional policies to the BOP, 2020 to clarify recent and forthcoming changes to provincial legislation, plans and policy.

The proposed amendments to BOP, 2020 under item “1.” above will build on the existing in force policies related to the delegation of authority to staff to make technical changes to the Official Plan without a plan amendment. New policies will add the ability to update the names of agencies or public authorities and to remove references to obsolete or redundant policy, through the preparation of office consolidations of the Official Plan. Proposed amendments to the BROP, 1995 will address similar considerations.

These delegated authorities are provided only where such changes do not alter the intent, meaning, or substance of an Official Plan.

The proposed amendments to BOP, 2020 under item “2.” above will introduce new policies to the Plan’s interpretation provisions to acknowledge:

• the transition of upper-tier planning responsibilities in Halton Region to each of Halton’s lower-tier municipalities;
• the revocation of the Provincial Policy Statement, 2020 and A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe; and
• the potential consolidation of Ontario’s 36 conservation authorities into regional conservation authorities.

The proposed Official Plan Amendments would apply city-wide.

Draft OPAs Available for Review

The draft proposed amendments to the Burlington Official Plan, 2020 and the Burlington Regional Official Plan, are now available:

Proposed amendment No. 8 to Burlington Official Plan, 2020

Proposed amendment No. 2 to the Burlington Regional Official Plan

Statutory Public Meeting

A Statutory Public Meeting will be held, and a recommendation report will be presented for the Official Plan Amendments on Tuesday, March 3, 2026. This meeting will be held at Burlington City Hall, 426 Brant St., starting at 9:30 a.m. The live webcast can be accessed on the City’s website at burlington.ca/calendar by searching for the meeting date and the Committee of the Whole and clicking the ‘Watch Video” link.

The formal Notice of Statutory Public Meeting is available here.

How to Obtain Materials

The proposed Official Plan Amendments and recommendation report will be available for public review on Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. The report will be available on the City’s website at burlington.ca/calendar by searching for the Committee of the Whole meeting on March 3, 2026. If you require a hard copy of the report, please email Legislative Services at clerks@burlington.ca to arrange pick up.

Speaking at the Statutory Public Meeting as a Delegation

To speak at the Public Meeting, there are two options:

1. Pre-register to speak by noon the Friday before the meeting is to be held. You can pre-register in one of the following ways:
   1. Complete the online delegation request form at burlington.ca/delegation;
   2. Submit a written request by email to Legislative Services at clerks@burlington.ca, or
   3. Phone 905-335-7600, ext. 7481

2. Register during the Public Meeting.

1. If you are viewing the livestream, you can register to speak by emailing clerks@burlington.ca, as noted in the ticker tape that will be scrolling along the bottom of the live stream webcast of the meeting with registration information.
2. If you are attending the meeting in person, you can register to speak during the meeting by following instructions provided at the meeting.

Speakers are limited to a maximum of 10 minutes each and are webcast online. If you have presentation materials, they must be submitted to Legislative Services at clerks@burlington.ca no later than noon, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026 to allow for their distribution and review by all members of the Committee. Please note the content of all submissions is considered public and will be posted on the City’s website.

Tell Us What You Think:

Send your comment correspondence to Jo-Anne Rudy, Committee Clerk at jo-anne.rudy@burlington.ca by noon Friday, Feb. 27, 2026 if you wish for it to be distributed and reviewed by all members of the Committee in advance of the Committee of the Whole Meeting on March 3, 2026.

You may also book time to talk to planning staff about the proposed amendments. This engagement opportunity is open until Feb. 26, 2026. Send an email to newop@burlington.ca to book a meeting time.

Looking for more information?

For more information about this matter, including information about appeal rights, contact newop@burlington.ca. If you wish to be notified of the decision on the proposed Official Plan Amendment, you must make a written request to Legislative Services at clerks@burlington.ca.