Official Plan

View the latest proposed revisions to the text and map amendments to the Official Plan: 

• Draft: Appendix A, Excerpt of the Proposed Amendment for Employment Areas
• Draft: Appendix B, Map 1, Community Structure
• Draft: Appendix C, Map 2, Land Use Designation
• Draft: Appendix D, Proposed Use Permissions for the Proposed New Draft Zoning By-law Categories of Business Commercial and Service Industrial, and Update to Employment – Industrial

The proposed amendments include: 

• Aligning the definition of Employment Area with the PPS 2024, meaning these areas are designated in an official plan for clusters of business and economic activities including manufacturing, research and development in connection with manufacturing, warehousing and goods movement, and associated retail and office uses, and ancillary facilities;
• Deleting the Employment – Non-Industrial designation and adding two new land use designations, Service Industrial and Business Commercial, intended to recognize lands that no longer meet the definition of Employment Area but continue to be employment generators in our community;
• Corresponding modifications to the text of sections 2.3.5 Employment Areas, 2.6.9 Employment Area – Non-Industrial and 2.6.10 Employment Area – Industrial as it relates to the Land Use Policies being consistent with the new definition of Employment Area and adding the designations of Service Industrial and Business Commercial;
• As a result of the new designations, removing 476.98 hectares of lands from the Employment Area illustrated on Map 1 – Community Structure and change the reference from Employment Area to Employment Land to represent the Employment policy section of the Official Plan. The illustration of the City's Employment Land include the designations of Employment – Restrictive Industrial, Employment – Industrial and Service Industrial and is not intended to represent 'employment area' in terms of the definition in PPS 2024, but to illustrate where in the City employment and employment generating business currently are, and where these uses should be located and intensified in the future; and
• General wording revisions to all sections of the plan that reference the PPS 2020, the Growth Plan and Employment Area if/as applicable.

To assist with the review of these changes, staff have created a searchable map for properties in the city.

View the Searchable Map

The first draft of the proposed text and map amendments to the Official Plan remain available for reference: 

• First Draft: Appendix A, Proposed Official Plan Amendments (PPS 2024)
• First Draft: Appendix B, Map 1, Community Structure
• First Draft: Appendix C, Map 2, Land Use Designations

A second public meeting was held February 4, 2026, to present a revised amendment to the Official Plan policies, with specific regard to the impact of the PPS 2024 on our Employment Area. View the public notice for full details.

Watch the public meeting

A March 2025 staff report recommended approval of the Official Plan Amendment to make Official Plan 2051 (May 2024) consistent with the new Provincial Planning Statement, 2024. The report was considered at the March 19, 2025, General Committee meeting, where it was referred back to staff for further consultation. 

Watch the General Committee Meeting

The Affordability Committee held a public meeting on Wednesday, February 26, 2025. View the public notice for full details. 

Watch the Public Meeting

On December 6, 2023, Mayor Nuttall submitted the City of Barrie’s recommendations on the Official Plan to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. The City’s submission includes feedback received from the public by email and at a November 22 Town Hall meeting.  

On December 6, 2023, Bill 150, Planning Statue Law Amendment Act, 2023 received royal assent, reversing the Provincial modifications to the City of Barrie’s Official Plan. This legislation brings into effect the Official Plan as adopted by Council on March 7, 2022, with one modification which was made to align with provincial regulation.

Provincial modification number 66 is being retained:

6.5.1.3.j) a new policy is added to read: “Where their activity would cause a significant drinking water threat, uses outlined in Policy LUP-1 of the South Georgian Bay Lake Simcoe Source Protection Plan shall not be permitted in vulnerable areas.”

On October 23, 2023, the new Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Paul Calandra announced that he would be reviewing the changes to official plans made by the previous minister. The Minister provided impacted municipalities 45 days to submit changes and updates to those plans to the ministry. 

The Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing approved the City of Barrie's Official Plan 2051, with 73 modifications, on April 11, 2023. For more information on the approval, visit the Environmental Registry of Ontario.

The 73 modifications to the Official Plan policies and maps were made to address provincial policy direction related to land use compatibility, source water protection, and government priorities related to housing and streamlining development process, among other matters, including site specific changes.