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Affordable housing definition to be determined as town looks to update Official Plan

August 27, 2026   ·   0 Comments

By JAMES MATTHEWS

As municipalities grow and change, so too must their Official Plans evolve with them.

Michael Matthys, the principal at WW+P Architects and Planners, told Orangeville council during a special meeting on Aug. 24 that Official Plans must be updated to respond to changing needs, priorities, and provincial policy directions.

As such, Orangeville is taking a hard look at its plan to ensure it will reflect the community’s character and vision into the future. Many things have changed since the plan was last considered.

“There’s new realities, new challenges, and opportunities that are confronting Orangeville today,” Matthys said. “And the review and update of the Official Plan is an opportunity to recognize those and kind of marshal our resources as we move forward.”

The plan was last updated in 2009. The current review will be done in four stages.

The opening phase looked at the municipality’s employment land strategy, residential strategy, commercial land use strategy, natural heritage system strategy, and policy gaps.

That phase was pretty much a checklist to set off in a direction.

The second phase, which is underway, will weigh directions and recommendations for further land use and mapping analysis. The town’s priorities will be confirmed with the public and with council.

“A little bit deeper dive on some of the key issues and matters that we identified in Phase 1,” Matthys said.

Orangeville resident Matthew Smith asked if it is best practice to rezone the northwest part of the town to residential land from employment land.

“Especially considering we’re kind of, in my words, starved for industrial land,” he said. “Should we really be removing that from the zoning and converting it to residential zoning?”

Brandon Ward, the town’s planning manager, said it is a practice that is expected to happen through the current process.

“We’ve had a consultant team not only with the growth management study but also now with the Official Plan review,” Ward said. “Both came to the same conclusion regarding those lands.”

He said Orangeville does indeed need future employment land, but those rezoned areas are not realistic to meet the need.

“There is a lot of merit to redesignate them,” Ward said. “In doing so, you achieve other objectives.”

Another necessary objective is to establish land for housing development, he said.

Councillor Joe Andrews asked the consultant whether the updated Official Plan will include a definition of affordable housing.

Matthys said there is no concise definition yet, but there remains work to be done.

“From our perspective, it makes sense to index it to income,” he said. “And how much is a percentage of your income do you want to be spending on affordable housing.”

Matthys said the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation uses 30 per cent of income as the benchmark.

“There’s different ways of looking at it depending on local income level,” he said. “In some areas, 30 per cent is still not realistic.”

“I think it is very difficult for us to define it here at a local level yet,” Andrews said. “It is the individuals, the consumer who will determine the affordability as well.”

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