Official Plan

The Official Plan is the City's long term land use plan. It sets out where and for what lands can be used (low/high density housing, retail, industry, institutional, etc.), how they may be developed and how they are connected and interact. It affects how the City will look in the future, how the community and all its neighbourhoods will function and the manner in which residents live, work and recreate.

The current Official Plan of the St. Catharines Planning Area was adopted by the Corporation of the City of St. Catharines by By-law 71-67 in accordance with Section 17 of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.P.13, as amended on April 19, 1971.  Since that time several amendments were undertaken in response to changing social and economic conditions and in response to provincial legislation.

Click here to download the current Official Plan

The Garden City Plan

In 2010, after an extensive review process, Planning Services prepared a new Official Plan for the municipality, known as The Garden City Plan.  The Garden City Plan is the culmination of an extensive public participation process, the review and evaluation of existing Official Plan policy, other relevant municipal policy and plans, upper tier government and agency land use policies and plans, and the future needs of the City.

The plan was adopted by the Corporation of the City of St. Catharines on Aug. 23, 2010 by By-law No. 2010-242 and is still subject to final approval by the Regional Municipality of Niagara. 

Click here to download the new Official Plan "The Garden City Plan"