Ottawa’s new Zoning By-law will help address the housing crisis

If there’s one thing you need to know about Ottawa’s new Zoning By-law, it’s this: it will make it easier to build new homes in Ottawa.

Of course, there’s a lot more to it than just that. To learn more, residents are invited to:

• Review the final draft of Ottawa’s new Zoning By-law at Engage Ottawa.
• Attend a virtual or in-person Open House.
• Read the rest of this article.

The new Zoning By-law will put into action the City’s Official Plan, which encourages more housing construction to accommodate our growing population. Ottawa is expected to grow by about 118,000 new households by 2035.

To make it easier to build homes in Ottawa, the new Zoning By-law will eliminate many existing barriers to development. In particular, it will: 

• Expand where housing can be built and permit a wider range of housing types 
• Simplify existing policies and language to make the by-law easier to understand and use 
• Permit more development of mid-rise and high-rise buildings close to transit 
• Align parking supply with market demand by removing minimum parking requirements in urban Ottawa 
• Streamline rules to encourage gentle infill in existing neighbourhoods 
• Support economic growth by easing property-use restrictions 

These changes are part of a comprehensive strategy to address the housing crisis and ensure the City is leveraging every municipal tool to make building homes easier and more predictable.

To see what we’re talking about, you are invited to virtual and in-person open house meetings.

• In-person open houses
  • Tuesday, September 23 EY Centre, 4899 Uplands Drive 6 to 8:30 pm
  • Monday, September 29 Ottawa Conference and Event Centre, 200 Coventry Road 6 to 8:30 pm

No registration necessary.

• Virtual open houses
  • Wednesday, September 17 6:30 to 8 pm
  • Thursday, September 25 6:30 to 8 pm

Registration is now open for both virtual Open Houses on Engage Ottawa.

When you visit Engage Ottawa you can also:

• Interact with a 3D Digital Twin Map and visualize potential future development.
• Check out geoOttawa for the citywide updated zoning map.
• Compare existing zoning rules with the proposed final draft.
• Watch the instruction video to learn how to use the Interactive Zoning Tool  and better understand the new Neighbourhood Zones.

What are the next steps? 

Following this review period, City staff will present the final draft to a joint meeting of the Planning and Housing Committee and the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee in December. From there, it will go to Council in January.