Ontario Plans for Growth: The New Provincial Planning Statement Published

  • August 28, 2024
  • Matthew Lakatos-Hayward, Signe Leisk

On August 20, 2024, the province of Ontario (the province) published the new Provincial Planning Statement, 2024, (PPS, 2024), a province-wide policy instrument that, once in force, will replace both the Provincial Policy Statement, 2020 (PPS, 2020) and A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (Growth Plan). It will come into force on October 20, 2024.

In 2023, the province consulted on an earlier version of the Provincial Planning Statement (2023 Draft), which was discussed in a previous update available here. Since then, the province released an updated draft for public consultation on April 12, 2024 (April 2024 Draft). The PPS, 2024 makes minor modifications to the April 2024 Draft.

The PPS, 2024 will fundamentally change how growth planning occurs throughout Ontario by simplifying and re-aligning existing policies to ostensibly achieve the province’s goal to build at least 1.5 million homes by 2031. As a policy statement under the Planning Act, all decisions that affect a planning matter must be consistent with the PPS, 2024.