The New Official Plan

In December 2016, Ottawa City Council directed staff to undertake a planning study to “…identify trends in housing, employment, and identify opportunities to create complete communities which, together with current Official Plan policies create an affordable and sustainable city beyond 2036…”

The goal of the Ottawa Next: Beyond 2036 study was to identify the forces that will shape Ottawa over the next century to help position the City to build both resiliency and adaptability into the next Official Plan. In order to carry out this goal and to address the high level of uncertainty of the city’s long-term future, Ottawa Next: Beyond 2036 was undertaken as a scenario based planning study to:

• identify trends and disruptors that will influence the city beyond the current 20-year planning horizon;
• identify possible future scenarios, which extend beyond the normal planning time-frame and arise from the identified drivers and disrupters; and
• identify planning considerations that will allow the City to create complete communities and be resilient and adaptable to future change.

The scenarios and planning considerations identified in this report will help to inform the setting of priorities within the next Official Plan, and may also frame the updates of the City’s other supporting Growth Management documents including the:

• Transportation Master Plan;
• Infrastructure Master Plan;
• Greenspace Master Plan; and the
• Development Charges By-law.

The Ottawa Next: Beyond 2036 study was presented to the Planning Committee on February 14, 2019.