As part of our ongoing work to enable housing to reach the market more quickly, the City of Waterloo is developing a tool to streamline development approvals along a portion of the Erb Street Corridor. This tool is called a Community Planning Permit System (CPPS) and is a land use planning tool which combines Zoning By-law Amendments, Minor Variances and Site Plan applications into one single streamlined application and approval process. Once the Community Planning Permit By-law is in effect, there are no third-party appeals. This means that only the applicant, the Minister, and certain public bodies can appeal decisions made by municipalities regarding the issuance of community planning permits.

Take notice that the City of Waterloo has prepared a city-initiated application (Zoning By-law Amendment Application Z-26-06) to implement a Community Planning Permit By-law for the Erb Street Corridor and will hold an Open House (May 4) and Formal Public Meeting (May 11) in this regard. This application will repeal existing Zoning By-law 2018-050 for the project area and replace it with a Community Planning Permit By-law. The Community Planning Permit By-law establishes the permitted and discretionary land uses, development standards, variance thresholds, exemptions, and procedures for processing Community Planning Permit applications including public notice requirements, transition provisions, conditions of approval and the requirements for facilities, services and matters. The Community Planning Permit By-law is based on existing regulations in Zoning Bylaw 2018-50 with modifications to enable CPPS permissions as afforded by the Planning Act Ontario Regulation 173/16.

Follow this link for notice of open house, formal public meeting and complete application.

Follow this link for the Council report including the recommended Community Planning Permit By-law to be approved by Council May 11, 2026.

Interactive Location Map

Key actions:

• Develop a Community Planning Permit System (CPPS).
• Propose an Official Plan Amendment for community and Council consideration.
• Propose a Community Planning Permit by-law for community and Council consideration.
• Train staff, communicate new by-law and implement.

Net new units: 50

Implementation timeline: December 1, 2023 to June 30, 2026

When developing the CPP By-law, the intent was to carry forward the City’s existing Zoning By-law 2018-050 regulations as a foundation, with updates as appropriate, and to enable CPPS permissions as afforded by the Planning Act. This included replacement of “zones” with “precincts”; more flexibility by introducing discretionary uses that define how land can be used if certain conditions and criteria are met, conditions of approval; ability for staff to approve more types of development applications (Class 2); enhanced process controls (e.g. complete application and pre-consultation meeting abilities, ability to address site plan-level details); ability to secure community benefits; and urban design guidelines that complement the development regulations.

In 2022, the City had a CPPS Background Study undertaken, which produced the following deliverables that have informed this project: