Employment Areas Review

About the Employment Areas Review

The Employment Areas Review is part of a larger project to protect job growth and create a vibrant place for everyone to live and work. The Employment Areas Review will help guide how the town will implement new provincial directions and related policies while protecting job growth and land supply in the long term.

At the same time, the town is conducting its Official Plan Review as it plans for population and job growth over the next 20 to 30 years in the context of a limited land supply and a changing climate.

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Background

Employment areas are lands set aside for non-residential uses like offices, factories, warehouses, and businesses that create jobs in our town. The town protects lands for employment so that the number of jobs grows as the community grows.

Designated Employment Areas are illustrated in blue on the Schedule A1, Urban Structure, Livable Oakville map (pdf).

To be officially protected, an Ontario municipality’s employment areas must meet the criteria of the provincial definition for “areas of employment”.

The Province of Ontario changed the definition of “area of employment” on October 20, 2024. This means that some lands within the town’s employment areas may no longer be protected for employment. This would impact the town’s ability to meet its long-term employment needs.

What we’ve done

The provincial changes included a transition provision so that established employment lands could still be protected while the town implements the new definition. Town Council adopted three Official Plan Amendments (OPAs) to implement the transition provision: OPAs 068, 332 as modified, and 333.

The purpose of the OPAs was to preserve the town’s protected Employment Areas pending completion of the Employment Areas Review.

Official Plan Amendments (OPAs)

On Tuesday, October 15, 2024, Town Council passed by-laws 2024-143, 2024-244 and 2024-145, which adopted Official Plan Amendments 068, 332 as modified, and 333, respectively. The purpose of the OPAs is to preserve the town’s protected employment areas pending completion of an employment area review. The review will inform how the town will implement the new provincial direction regarding employment areas.

Without the OPAs as proposed, the town’s employment areas could be reduced, impacting the town’s long-term employment land needs.

Draft OPAs

The OPAs, as adopted, will do the following:

Restrict uses in the official plan policies that do not meet the new provincial definition for “area of employment”;
Allow all lands in the town’s employment areas to continue as an “area of employment” even if there are uses that are not included in the new provincial definition, so long as those uses were established before October 20, 2024;
Allow the town to continue to review requests to convert lands within employment areas to a different land use designation through a comprehensive process that applies the tests under Section 2.8.2.5 of the Provincial Planning Statement, 2024;
Make sure that Council’s decision on requests to convert lands within employment areas to a different land use designation continue to be final, meaning they may not be appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal;
Preserve the town’s employment areas as protected so that the town has time to complete an employment area review to determine the best location for the town’s employment areas and only allow the reduction of the town’s employment areas through a comprehensive process;
Allow the town to have regard in its long- and short-term planning decisions to provincial interests related to employment, economic development and growth management; and
Ensure that the town’s employment areas that connect to employment areas within neighbouring municipalities (Burlington, Mississauga and Milton) remain protected and any changes in land use are based on a review that is comprehensive and coordinated with those municipalities.

The proposed policies will apply to the town’s employment areas within:

Lands in the Employment Area designations of Office Employment, Business Employment, Industrial and Business Commercial in the Livable Oakville Plan
Lands designated as Employment District in the North Oakville East and West Secondary Plans

These employment areas include land:

South of Highway 407
West and east of Highway 403
North and south of the Queen Elizabeth Way
North and south of Royal Windsor Drive
Review the Urban Structure Map (pdf). Employment Areas are identified in blue.

OPA appeals

Official Plan Amendments 68 (Livable Oakville Plan), 332 (North Oakville East Secondary Plan) and 333 (North Oakville West Secondary Plan) have been appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal.

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