Official Plan

The Garden City Plan

The Official Plan (The Garden City Plan) is the City of St. Catharines long term land use plan. The Plan sets out policies for where and how lands can be used and developed within the community. This plan helps to guide how the City will look and function in the future.

Niagara Official Plan

The Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act (Bill 185) received Royal Assent on June 6, 2024, and made amendments to the Planning Act resulting in the Regional Municipality of Niagara being identified as an upper tier municipality without planning responsibilities as of March 31, 2025. As a result, the Region’s Official Plan (Niagara Official Plan) has become an official plan of the City of St. Catharines and will remain in effect until the City revokes or amends the plan to provide otherwise.

The City is now responsible for carriage, implementation and maintenance of both the City’s Official Plan (the Garden City Plan) and the Niagara Official Plan.

What does the Official Plan do?

The Official Plan:

• Sets out areas of the City intended for residential, industrial, commercial, institutional and agricultural use and development
• Identifies major open space and environmental protection areas and parklands
• Identifies permitted land uses and contains general policies to guide development within the various land use areas
• Permits the uses and policy contained within the Official Plan that are implemented through the more detailed land use regulations contained within the City's comprehensive Zoning By-law

How to request an amendment

If you are a property owner and wish to develop land differently than what the Official Plan prescribes, you can complete an application for the Official Plan Amendment (OPA).