Notice of Adoption Official Plan Amendment No. 4 (OPA26.004)

23 June 2026

File Number: OPA26.004

Pursuant to Section 17(23) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, Chapter P.13, this notice is to advise you that the Council of the Corporation of the Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville at its meeting on June 17, 2026, has made the decision to:

PASS BY-LAW 2026-055-OP

Official Plan Amendment No. 4 (File No. OPA26.004)

Town Wide

Explanation of the Purpose & Effect of By-law 2026-055-OP

The purpose and effect of this Amendment to the Town’s Official Plan, 2025 is to update the Town’s employment areas policies and land use designations to align with the Provincial Planning Statement (PPS), 2024 and the Planning Act. The Amendment applies to the entirety of the Town, and particularly the employment areas within the communities of Stouffville, Vandorf, and Gormley.

The Amendment includes key updates to the Official Plan employment area policies in Sections 2, 3, and 6, and the land use designations on Schedules D, D-2, G, and H, as well as new and revised definitions. These updates align the Official Plan to the PPS, 2024 and the Planning Act, while maintaining the Town’s overall vision of supporting employment and economic growth.

Section 3.8 of the Amendment establishes an updated employment lands framework which supports a range of employment and employment-generating uses, that include the following land use designations:

  • Industrial Employment Areas – which comprise the protected “employment areas” and the permitted uses as per the Planning Act and the PPS, 2024 definition of employment areas apply; and
  • Business Park Areas – which comprise employment lands, and permit a broader range of employment and employment-generating uses, including offices, service commercial uses and commercial recreation and entertainment uses.

The communities of Gormley and Vandorf are reinforced as the Town’s primary Industrial Employment Areas, while employment lands within the community of Stouffville are predominately designated Business Park Area, intended to accommodate a range of employment and employment-generating uses to support local job opportunities and complete communities.

Section 3.8 of the Amendment also includes Town-wide employment land policies related to: economic development and attracting employment; encouraging creative industries; promoting green employment, and the protection of employment lands, which establishes criteria for the removal of employment lands for non-employment uses, in accordance with the PPS, 2024.

The Amendment also includes three special provisions applicable to specific employment lands within the community of Stouffville that are identified on Schedules D and D-2, which permit a broader range of uses based on the unique context of those lands.

Attached is a copy of By-law 2026-055-OP as passed by Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville Council. All written and oral submissions received by the Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville were considered in the making of this decision.

Filing of the Appeal

The last date for filing a Notice of Appeal is July 12, 2026. If no appeal is received by this time, the decision is final. A Notice of Appeal must:

  1. Be filed with the Clerk of the Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville.
  2. Set out the reasons for the appeal.
  3. Be accompanied by the fee required by the Ontario Land Tribunal (refer to https://olt.gov.on.ca/fee-chart/) by cheque made payable to the Minister of Finance.
  4. In addition, pursuant to By-law 2025-079-FI, a processing fee for the Ontario Land Tribunal appeal, payable to the Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville, is required to be paid at the time of filing a Notice of Appeal.

Forms and other information respecting appeals to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) are available on the OLT’s website at: https://olt.gov.on.ca/forms-submissions/

Note: Personal information that accompanies a submission will be collected under the authority of the Planning Act and may form part of the public record which may be released to the public.

The Minister, a specified person, public body, or registered owner of any land to which the By-law will apply, who made oral submissions at a Public Meeting or written submissions to Town Council prior to the passage of the By-law, may appeal the By-law to the Ontario Land Tribunal. Third party appeals are no longer permitted – meaning neighbours, individuals, companies, and ratepayer groups can no longer appeal amendments.

If a person or public body would otherwise have an ability to appeal the decision of the Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville to the Ontario Land Tribunal but the person or public body did not make oral submissions at the public meeting or make written submissions to Town of Whitchurch Stouffville before the by-laws passed, the person or public body is not entitled to appeal the decision of the Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville.

If a person or public body did not make oral submissions at the public meeting or make written submissions to the Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville before the by-law passed, the person or public body may not be added as a party to the hearing of an appeal before the Ontario Land Tribunal unless, in the opinion of the Tribunal, there are reasonable grounds to do so.

That means if this proposed amendment or by-law is appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal and you would like to participate in the appeal in some form, you must have had made an oral submission at the public meeting, or have submitted written comments to the Town Clerk, before the proposed amendment was adopted or the by-law was passed by Town Council.

In the event of an appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal, your written submissions and contact information will be provided to the Tribunal. If you do not wish your contact information to be released to the Tribunal by the Town, please advise the Town accordingly in writing.

Mailing Address for Filing a Notice of Appeal

Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville Municipal Offices
111 Sandiford Drive
Stouffville, ON L4A 0Z8

The Ontario Land Tribunal may dismiss an appeal for reasons set out in Section 17(45) of the Planning Act.

Additional Information

Additional information on the Official Plan Amendment, including information about appeal rights, is available by contacting the Town’s Planner, Andrea Torok, Policy Planner I, Policy Planning via email at andrea.torok@townofws.ca, or via phone at (905) 640-1900, extension 2329.

DATED at the Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville on, June 23, 2026.

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