What is an Official Plan?

The Official Plan is a legal document approved by the City of Vaughan and the Region of York, which describes policies and objectives for future land use. It reflects a community vision for future change and development.

The Province requires that a municipality’s Official Plan be updated every 5 years to conform to current provincial policies. Regular updating of the Plan ensures that the guidelines, objectives, and vision for City planning stays responsive to current issues and conditions. The former Plan had over 600 amendments that needed to be combined into one simplified document based on a clear and concise vision.

Vaughan's new Official Plan will provide guidance for the physical development of the municipality to the year 2031 while taking into consideration important social, economic and environmental issues and objectives. The Plan provides a policy framework that will guide the following:

• Where new development can locate;
• How existing and future neighbourhoods will be strengthened;
• How Vaughan's environment will be enhanced;
• What municipal services, such as roads, water mains, sewers and parks, will be provided;
• When and where Vaughan will grow.

The Visioning process, which took place between January-September 2008, was a key component of the Official Plan project. During this period a series of public engagement activities and events provided Vaughan citizens with an opportunity to voice what they saw as both opportunities and challenges to growth planning in Vaughan. Visioning workshops were also held in Spring 2008 to identify “principles” for managing growth and were followed up by community workshops in Fall 2008 to explore “growth scenarios."

Following the Visioning process, detailed planning work took place in the Focused Area Studies for existing communities and policy directions for specific growth and development vision. A draft Official Plan was available to the public in early 2010 and new Official Plan was approved by Council in September 2010. Throughout the Visioning Process a number of background papers were also released on central issues addressed by the Official Plan.

Click below to read an overview and summary of the new Official Plan released in April 2010.​

Public Overview and Summary ​