Staff presentation on changes to Zoning By-law resulting from Bill 23

Presentation

At the October 4 Planning and Housing Committee meeting, we passed interim Zoning Amendments, until Council adoption of the new Zoning By-law, for the City of Ottawa to be compliant with Bill 23, the Provincial legislation that permits 3 units to be built on every site that has city services. This means that R1 zoning, which restricts building to one home on one lot, is effectively over for many College Ward neighbourhoods. Single units can now be three units, and semi-detached can effectively have 3 units each, for a total of 6 units on one lot. This is a big change, and one I know will be felt by many neighbours in Ottawa. I was sure to share information about the provincial bill during my campaign, and in my first communications in office, but if you missed it, you can find it here: How will Bill 23 affect residents?

At the October 4 Planning and Housing Committee meeting, we passed interim Zoning Amendments, until Council adoption of the new Zoning By-law, for the City of Ottawa to be compliant with Bill 23, the Provincial legislation that permits 3 units to be built on every site that has city services. This means that R1 zoning, which restricts building to one home on one lot, is effectively over for many College Ward neighbourhoods. Single units can now be three units, and semi-detached can effectively have 3 units each, for a total of 6 units on one lot. This is a big change, and one I know will be felt by many neighbours in Ottawa. I was sure to share information about the provincial bill during my campaign, and in my first communications in office, but if you missed it, you can find it here: How will Bill 23 affect residents?

This interim zoning provision is intended only to be in place until the full comprehensive zoning bylaw review is complete (https://engage.ottawa.ca/zoning), and it seeks to harmonize those pieces of zoning that regulate triplexes with other zoning that regulates secondary dwelling units, because this new zoning could be considered either way. A major part of the discussion was on the provision of parking, and it was decided that you could offer rear yard parking (like triplexes) but with the caveat that 15% of the yard has to remain soft landscaping (currently no landscaping minimums are in place under the bylaws).

A maximum 70% of a rear yard  will be permitted for parking in the R1-R5 zones, whereas today no such restriction exists and one could hypothetically use their entire rear yard for parking. I am satisfied that this interim solution will bring some predictability for both residents and builders who are looking to move forward with Provincial direction, but have been waiting for a year for this to come to pass.

For more information, please check out the summaries from the City.

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The Big Picture: Ottawa's Zoning By-law Review (Part 1)

In January 2021, City Council approved the new Zoning By-Law project to bring zoning by-laws into alignment with Ottawa’s new Official Plan, approved by the Province of Ontario in 2022. The Official Plan lays out a broad framework about where growth should happen in the city until 2046 and beyond. The new Zoning By-law will implement the policies and directions of the Official Plan.

Ottawa is expected to grow from about 1-million people in 2021 to nearly 1.5-mllion people in 2046. The Official Plan seeks to allow growth, but limit sprawl, with the balance being achieved through more infill development. This policy decision is consistent with subsequent Provincial Housing Bills that made every serviced lot in Ottawa be zoned for three units as-of-right.  Every part of Ottawa will see development and change. The height and density will tend to be higher the closer you are to urban areas and major transit stations and lower the closer you are to the rural areas, and in the centre of established neighbourhoods.

A Zoning By-law governs:

  • how land and buildings may be used (e.g. residential, retail store, light industrial use)
  • the height and massing of buildings and other structures, and their location on the lot
  • the density of development and land use
  • lot sizes and dimensions
  • permissions, requirements and standards for on-site parking
  • some aspects of the character of buildings and development

Why are we doing an update?

The current version of Ottawa’s Zoning By-law, officially known as “Zoning By-law 2008-250”, is a conglomeration of rules consolidated from older zoning by-laws, dating back more than 50 years. It’s out of sync with current priorities like housing affordability, transportation needs, and climate change. And it’s not aligned to Ottawa’s new Official Plan (2022), which means it is constantly receiving amendment requests from developers and creating uncertainty for residents. The lack of harmonization in our zoning regulations is creating additional costs, barriers to housing, and overall frustration.

Thankfully this process is well under way. City Staff released Draft 2 (https://engage.ottawa.ca/zoning) earlier this Spring and are now accepting feedback.

I’m encouraging residents to review the draft zoning provisions and share any comments or questions at [email protected]. Comments received before June 30 will be reviewed and considered by staff and may inform changes in the final Zoning By-law presented to Council.

This version of the draft includes hundreds of pages of text spanning multiple documents, along with maps and interactive features. It’s a huge amount of information! Ultimately, I hope these posts will allow College Ward residents to share feedback more effectively with staff.

In this series of I’m aiming to:

  • Provide a simplified guide to help residents understand the process
  • Explain how the proposed updates may affect your property and neighbourhood
  • Get residents engaged to “crowdsource” a review of the new zoning map, to identify any errors or issues.

For now, I would like to share some key terms:

“Main Street Corridors” are major roads like Baseline, Robertson, Greenbank, and Clyde that will also see a mix of employment, retail, amenities, and housing, including apartments. Streets and properties adjacent to them will also see a higher level of development.

“Minor Corridors” are roads like Meadowlands, Iris, and parts of Centrepointe Drive. More height and density are allowed along these roads, but less than along Main Street Corridors.

And then there are “Evolving Neighbourhoods” which include these Hubs and Corridors, and areas immediately adjacent to them, that are anticipated to see more change and growth as a result of their proximity to transportation corridors.

“Transects and urban expansion areas” There are two other concepts in the Official Plan that are relevant to understanding  how staff are creating the New Zoning By-Law: transects. The Official Plan divides the city into six areas known as “transects”, from the most urban (“The Downtown”) to the least urban (“Rural”).  College Ward is in the “Outer Urban” transect.

So that’s a very quick overview. In the next few posts, we’ll dive into how these policies and concepts are being translated into a new Zoning By-law. Stay tuned!

We need clearer accounting for photo radar revenues

Video of Laine asking questions about Red Light Camera and ASE revenues

 

Recent media reports have highlighted the Ottawa Auditor General’s findings that describe the redirection of red-light camera revenue since 2019 to the City’s general revenues and to the Ottawa Police Service.

I have to say I’m feeling disappointed that we repeated this same decision-making, despite my best efforts, even as recently as four months ago.

I spoke out during the 2025 budget deliberations in December because we voted again to redirect revenue from road safety measures, this time from automated speed enforcement (ASE) revenues, collected now and moving forward.

That’s right. This isn’t just a 2019 decision under the last term of Council: this Council voted to make the same decision in 2024!

Transportation Master Plan: Mapping Ottawa's Future

On March 31, 2025 the City of Ottawa launched the consultation on the Transportation Master Plan (TMP) Capital Infrastructure Plan, and we want to hear from you! Have your say on the future of transportation in Ottawa and share your input by completing the online surveys available on the Transportation Master Plan project page.

The draft Capital Infrastructure Plan identifies the transit and road projects that are needed to accommodate planned growth to the year 2046 and achieve the City’s mobility objectives. It also identifies a subset of projects that should be prioritized for implementation. This phase of TMP consultation also includes prioritization of the active transportation projects that were approved by Council in April 2023.

Ottawa has grown into a city of one million residents. Over the next two decades, Ottawa will gain approximately 400,000 new residents and 160,000 new jobs. With that kind of growth, we need to plan for a flexible, dependable, safe and efficient transportation network. 

Get involved!

  • Complete the surveys on the recommended road and transit projects, the prioritized list of active transportation projects, and other components of the Capital Infrastructure Plan
  • Attend a public engagement session – virtual and in-person events will run from April 8 to May 6
  • Sign up for updates and stay informed on the TMP process

Surveys will be open until May 12. To participate and learn more, visit the Transportation Master Plan project page.

Your input matters! Transportation decisions impact everyone, no matter how you move through the city.

Proposed pedestrian projects in College Ward

Proposed cycling projects in College Ward

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