- Reduce the requirement for on-site residential parking in the Zoning By-law and incentivize further parking reductions;
- Update the City’s cash-in-lieu of parking policy to provide greater flexibility for development in Strategic Growth Areas where the ability to provide on-site parking is limited; and,
- Implement an on-street overnight parking program.
Initiatives and Reports
The City of Peterborough's Planning, Development and Urban Design Division undertakes projects and completes studies and reports to guide land use planning decisions and support the vision, goals and objectives of the Official Plan. Learn more about key planning initiatives, commitments and reports on this page.
On this page
- Housing Accelerator Fund Action Plan
- Peterborough's Housing Pledge
- Planning for the Future of our Strategic Growth Areas: Secondary Plan and Community Planning Permit System
- Official Plan Implementation Strategy
- Streamline Development Approval Fund
- Development Approvals Review Findings Report
Housing Accelerator Fund Action Plan
The Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) is a federal program run by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) to accelerate the construction of more housing.
The City is eligible to receive $10.69M in funding over three years (2025-2027) through the HAF. The City has already received funding for Year 1 in the amount of $2.67M. Years 2 and 3 of funding is contingent upon the City meeting the milestones in its Action Plan and housing target of 1,410 housing units. Of the 1,410 housing units, 356 units are fast-tracked and incented by the HAF funding and 244 housing units are targeted as affordable.
By way of agreement, the City committed to permit 1,410 housing units between January 1, 2025 and December 31, 2027 and to accelerate permitted units by implementing the City's Action Plan and initiatives. Details regarding the City of Peterborough's HAF Action Plan and initiatives is available below. The HAF grant will cover the cost of implementing these initiatives.
1. Reduce or eliminate residential parking requirements
2. End exclusionary zoning and incentivize missing middle housing
- Address the housing gap between single detached dwellings and mid-rise apartment buildings by amending the Zoning By-law to eliminate exclusionary zoning (zoning that only permits single and semi-detached dwellings) to also permit duplexes, triplex and fourplexes as-of-right;
- Establish programs to rebate part of the Development Charges applicable to duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes (i.e., rebate building permit fees and offer interest-free loans of up to $10,000 per unit to support construction of 2nd, 3rd and 4th units on properties); and,
- Create a public-facing registration system for all new rental units.
3. Increase process efficiency by implementing a public facing e-permitting portal
- Establish an online development approval application process for the application and issuance of planning approvals and building permits;
- Expand e-permitting to all development and building permit types;
- Enable the online receipt, circulation and review of applications and automate the application communication process both among City staff and between the City, applicants and external commenting agencies;
- Allow applicants to track the progress of their applications in real time and by enabling live, publicly accessible application status reporting and development approval statistics to the City’s website (online dashboard); and,
- Include ongoing monitoring of the Amanda portal implementation and Plan-Build Peterborough service to optimize their functionality and efficiency based on user experience.
4. Implement a Community Planning Permit System
- Prepare a secondary land use plan and Community Planning Permit By-law for the City’s Strategic Growth Areas to establish as-of-right zoning and site plan permissions to promote intensification in key areas and create more efficient and streamlined development approval process (45 days); and,
- Support increased density in exchange for affordable housing and/or community benefits.
5. Make City-owned land available and partner to develop housing
- Leverage surplus and underused public land for housing redevelopment;
- Establish a municipal land inventory and management policy for promoting the best and highest use or disposition of municipally owned land, prioritizing the development of affordable housing; and,
- Establish a framework to undertake partnerships with developers to facilitate development; thereby enabling residential development projects which would otherwise not proceed without the benefit of municipal lands and/or partnership, prioritizing affordable housing.
6. Housing innovation and alternative construction methods
- Establish a dedicated and specialized process to facilitate expedient permit approvals for alternate forms of housing (e.g., Modular, Prefabricated, Mass Timber and other innovative housing construction methods) and to facilitate building systems pre-approval; and,
- Support creation of design guidelines for low-rise infill developments including accessory dwelling units and multiplexes to support as-of-right zoning permissions and introduce expedited review process for standardized designs.
7. Modernizing the Affordable Housing Community Improvement Plan
- Redefine Affordability Standards so that the affordable housing market rents align with CMHC standards (i.e., housing that costs less than 30% of a household’s before-tax income for both purpose built rental and ownership housing);
- Shift from program-based incentives to per-unit incentives to simplify budgeting for developers;
- Offer financial incentives based on the average amount of financial incentives given per development project in neighboring municipalities (estimated at $40,000-$80,000 per unit);
- Scale up incentives for developers considering the total number of units created (the more affordable units provided, the larger the incentive per unit);
- Provide greater incentives for projects with longer-term affordability agreements;
- Expedite approval processes for projects utilizing the Affordable Housing Community Improvement Plan; and,
- Offer discounted or low-cost public land for affordable housing developments.
Peterborough's Housing Pledge
The Province's Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing assigned the City of Peterborough with a housing target of 4,700 new homes by 2031. City Council has endorsed the City of Peterborough's Housing Pledge outlining the strategies and actions to facilitate the construction of 4,700 new housing units by 2031.
In 2023, the City exceeded its annual housing target of 345 units by 147%, for a total of 506 units. The City's annual targets for 2024 and 2025 are 392 units and 470 units, respectively (see table below).
City of Peterborough Annual Housing Targets and Progress 2023-2025
| Year | Annual Housing Target | Annual Housing Progress, number of units | Annual Housing Progress by percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 345 | 506 | 147% |
| 2024 | 392 | 294 | 75% |
| 2025 | 470 | 271 | 58% |
Table updated April 7, 2025
Planning for the Future of our Strategic Growth Areas: Secondary Plan and Community Planning Permit System
The City of Peterborough is developing a Secondary Plan and Community Planning Permit System for the City’s Strategic Growth Areas. The City of Peterborough has identified seven (7) key Strategic Growth Areas that will be the focus of the Secondary Plan, which are:
- Downtown Central Area
- Water Street North Corridor
- Chemong Road Corridor
- Clonsilla Avenue & Charlotte Street Corridor
- Lansdowne Street (West) Corridor
- Armour Road Corridor
- Lansdowne Street (East) Corridor
Official Plan Implementation Strategy
The City’s new Official Plan includes a series of policy commitments and initiatives to support the achievement of the vision and objectives that guide the growth and development of the City.
The Official Plan Implementation Strategy is a high-level work plan that provides guidance and confirms priorities for the policy commitments of the Plan. It is intended to be updated each year to report on the City's progress on initiatives and targets.
2024 Official Plan Implementation Strategy
Streamline Development Approvals Fund
The City undertook ten initiatives that make systemic changes to the City’s development approvals process, clear application backlog, and build both staff and developer capacity for efficient and trackable development approvals. The initiatives were funded by the Provincial Government through the Streamline Development Approvals Fund Grant Program.
The Program is a one-time financial tool intended to help Ontario’s 39 largest municipalities modernize, streamline and accelerate their processes for managing and approving development applications. The City of Peterborough has utilized this fund to undertake multiple projects and hire temporary staff and peer review consultants to achieve these objectives. The projects undertaken have established the rationale for additional staff to support development application review, will streamline development approvals with new standards and guidelines, and will modernize the City’s system for receiving, processing and tracking applications and for communicating with Applicants.
Report IPGPL23-001 - Streamline Development Approval Funding Program Update
Development Approvals Review Findings
The City has undertaken a comprehensive review of the Development Approval Process to identify and examine opportunities for improvements. The objective is to develop more efficient and consistent processes and improve service delivery, both internally and externally.
The Development Approval Process review was funded by the Provincial Government through the Audit and Accountability Fund Grant Program. The intent of the Audit and Accountability Fund Grant Program is to support Ontario municipalities that are committed to identifying and implementing service delivery efficiencies. The program requires an impartial and objective third-party review to identify efficiencies.
Contact Us
City Hall
500 George St. N.
Peterborough, ON
K9H 3R9
Phone: 705-742-7777
Toll Free: 1-855-738-3755
Email Us