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.

Council passed the Community Planning Permit By-law which 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. Council also passed By-law No. 2026-035 which amends By-law No. 2025-080, being a by-law to delegate authority to execute documents, to provide the Director of Planning the ability to execute Community Planning Permit System agreements as appropriate.

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: