Urban Growth Centres and the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, 2006

Figure 2 below shows the urban growth centres identified in Schedule 4 of the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, 2006.

Description: Map showing conceptually the 25 Urban Growth Centres in the Greater Golden Horseshow Growth Plan Area. The Urban Growth Centres shown are Downtown St. Catharines, Downtown Brantford, Downtown Cambridge, Downtown Kitchener, Uptown Waterloo, Downtown Guelph, Downtown Hamilton, Downtown Burlington, Midtown Oakville, Downtown Milton, Mississauga City Centre, Downtown Brampton, Etobicoke Centre, Downtown Toronto, Yonge-Eglinton Centre, North York Centre, Scarborough Centre, Vaughan Corporate Centre, Richmond Hill/Langstaff Gateway, Markham Centre, Downtown Pickering, Downtown Oshawa, Downtown Barrie, Newmarket Centre and Downtown Peterborough.

Urban Growth Centre Policies

Selected Growth Plan policies on urban growth centres are provided below:

Policy 2.2.4

1. Urban growth centres for the Greater Golden Horseshoe are identified in Schedule 4 of the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, 2006.
2. The Minister of Energy and Infrastructure^{footnote 2[2]}, in consultation with municipalities that have urban growth centres, will determine the approximate size and location of the urban growth centres.
3. Municipalities will delineate the boundaries of urban growth centres in their official plans.
4. Urban growth centres will be planned –
   1. as focal areas for investment in institutional and region-wide public services, as well as commercial, recreational, cultural and entertainment uses
   2. to accommodate and support major transit infrastructure
   3. to serve as high density major employment centres that will attract provincially, nationally or internationally significant employment uses
   4. to accommodate a significant share of population and employment growth.
5. Urban growth centres will be planned to achieve, by 2031 or earlier, a minimum gross density target of –
   1. 400 residents and jobs combined per hectare for each of the urban growth centres in the City of Toronto
   2. 200 residents and jobs combined per hectare for each of the Downtown Brampton, Downtown Burlington, Downtown Hamilton, Downtown Milton, Markham Centre, Mississauga City Centre, Newmarket Centre, Midtown Oakville, Downtown Oshawa, Downtown Pickering, Richmond Hill/Langstaff Gateway, Vaughan Corporate Centre, Downtown Kitchener and Uptown Waterloo urban growth centres
   3. 150 residents and jobs combined per hectare for each of the Downtown Barrie, Downtown Brantford, Downtown Cambridge, Downtown Guelph, Downtown Peterborough and Downtown St. Catharines urban growth centres.
6. If at the time this Plan comes into effect, an urban growth centre is already planned to achieve, or has already achieved, a gross density that exceeds the minimum density target established in Policy 2.2.4.5, this higher density will be considered the minimum density target for that urban growth centre.

Policy 5.3.3

The Minister of Energy and Infrastructure will work with other Ministers of the Crown, municipalities and other stakeholders on key pieces of further analysis, in order to implement the Growth Plan, including the determination of the approximate size and location of the urban growth centres.

It is important to note that municipalities, when implementing these policies, consider the entirety of the Growth Plan including the policies on cultural heritage protection, open space, design of public realm, appropriate transition of built form to adjacent areas, and transportation. It is expected that in delineating the precise boundaries of the urban growth centres in their official plans, municipalities will adhere to and will make only minor necessary adjustments to the size and location in this report.

Where urban growth centre boundaries have yet to be identified in a municipal official plan, the policies of the Growth Plan, including the urban growth centres, apply. Additionally, the Provincial Policy Statement, 2005, other provincial plans, and related provincial acts and policies must be read in conjunction with the Growth Plan.