OTTAWA, September 10, 2025 — A City of Ottawa news release yesterday asserts that if there’s one thing you need to know about Ottawa’s new Zoning By-law, it’s this: it will make it easier to build new homes in Ottawa.
Of course, there’s a lot more to it than just that. To learn more, Ottawa residents are invited to:
- Review the final draft of Ottawa’s new Zoning By-law at Engage Ottawa.
- Attend a virtual or in-person Open House.
- Read the rest of this article.
The new Zoning By-law will put into action the City’s Official Plan, which encourages more housing construction to accommodate our growing population. Ottawa is expected to grow by about 118,000 new households by 2035.
According to sources with the Planning & Housing Committee, part of the new proposed zoning bylaw will permit a maximum building height of 11 metres in all urban neighbourhoods, except where secondary plan policies require lower height or where height provisions are in place that limit heights to less than three storeys.
To make it easier to build homes in Ottawa, the new Zoning By-law will eliminate many existing barriers to development. In particular, it will:
- Expand where housing can be built and permit a wider range of housing types
- Simplify existing policies and language to make the by-law easier to understand and use
- Permit more development of mid-rise and high-rise buildings close to transit
- Align parking supply with market demand by removing minimum parking requirements in urban Ottawa
- Streamline rules to encourage gentle infill in existing neighbourhoods
- Support economic growth by easing property-use restrictions
These changes are part of a comprehensive strategy to address the housing crisis and ensure the City is leveraging every municipal tool to make building homes easier and more predictable.
To see what we’re talking about, you are invited to virtual and in-person open house meetings.
- In-person open houses
- Tuesday, September 23
EY Centre, 4899 Uplands Drive
6 to 8:30 pm - Monday, September 29
Ottawa Conference and Event Centre, 200 Coventry Road
6 to 8:30 pm
- Tuesday, September 23
No registration necessary.
- Virtual open houses
- Wednesday, September 17
6:30 to 8 pm - Thursday, September 25
6:30 to 8 pm
- Wednesday, September 17
Registration is now open for both virtual Open Houses on Engage Ottawa(link is external).
When you visit Engage Ottawa you can also:
- Interact with a 3D Digital Twin Map and visualize potential future development.
- Check out geoOttawa(link is external) for the citywide updated zoning map.
- Compare existing zoning rules with the proposed final draft.
- Watch the instruction video to learn how to use the Interactive Zoning Tool (link is external) and better understand the new Neighbourhood Zones(link is external).
What are the next steps?
Following this review period, City staff will present the final draft to a joint meeting of the Planning and Housing Committee and the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee in December. From there, it will go to Council in January.
SOURCE City of Ottawa
ther articles from totimes.ca – otttimes.ca – mtltimes.ca
