Hamilton’s Urban Boundary: The OLT Decision and What Comes Next

Detailed explainer, by Mark Tadeson. BACKGROUND

Expanding Hamilton’s Urban Boundary has been a contentious issue. In the past, Provincial Policy allowed municipal councils to determine whether an urban boundary expansion (UBE) was warranted or needed to meet provincially set population targets.

The former growth framework generally required settlement boundary expansions to be addressed through a Municipal Comprehensive Review (MCR). If privately initiated urban boundary expansions were put forward by developers, the City had the sole authority to grant or deny those applications.

Recently, however, the Provincial Government changed Provincial Policy. These changes permit private landowners to propose urban boundary expansions of any size and location, provided they are outside the Greenbelt Plan area. Any proposal will then go before Planning Committee for a decision and Council for ratification. If the proposal is denied, applicants can appeal the refusal to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT).

The matter then moves to the OLT, which can effectively step into the municipality’s shoes and determine whether the proposal should be approved, modified, or refused. It is important to note that OLT adjudicators are appointed by the Provincial Government and now have the power to determine a municipality’s land use.

The City is currently dealing with three separate privately initiated urban boundary expansion applications: Twenty Road West, Elfrida, and Whitechurch.

RECENT NEWS

The City and private developers decided to divide the OLT hearing into two separate phases.

Phase 1 would determine whether an urban expansion was necessary in Hamilton and, if so, how much land would need to be brought into the Urban Boundary to meet the housing needs of a projected population of more than 800,000 by 2051.

Should an expansion be approved by the OLT in Phase 1, the City would then proceed to Phase 2 hearings to determine whether the proposed privately initiated expansions at Twenty Road West, Elfrida, and Whitechurch were appropriate.

Phase 1 of the OLT hearing regarding these three privately initiated urban boundary expansions was contested this past spring, and the City’s position of holding the urban boundary firm was not supported.

On August 17, 2026, the Ontario Land Tribunal released a decision stating that “there is a need to implement an expansion of the City’s Urban Boundary Expansion of at least 1600 gross developable hectares (ha).” That is approximately 4,000 acres.

Twenty Road West

Phase 2 of the OLT hearing for the Twenty Road West boundary expansion was heard in early summer, following the conclusion of Phase 1 but before a decision was rendered. The City is awaiting the outcome of that hearing, which is expected later this summer or in the fall.

Elfrida

Phase 2 of the OLT hearing for Elfrida is scheduled for January 2027.

However, the Elfrida UBE Secondary Plan submitted by developers was reviewed by staff and presented to Planning Committee at a well-attended public hearing on August 25. More than 60 written letters and several delegations were received from local residents.

Staff recommended that the Secondary Plan proposal be denied because it had not adequately demonstrated:

• Infrastructure capacity

• Transportation capacity

• A robust phasing plan

• Natural heritage system protection and enhancement

• Compatible and aligned designations

More specifically, staff stated that the Elfrida Secondary Plan was premature and contained significant deficiencies in both its supporting technical studies and its proposed Official Plan Amendment policies for the Urban Hamilton Official Plan and Rural Hamilton Official Plan.

Those deficiencies relate to water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure; natural heritage protection; land-use compatibility; urban design; transportation infrastructure; and development phasing. Additional information, further technical analysis, and substantial revisions are required before the Secondary Plan can be considered satisfactory, appropriate, and implementable.

The staff presentation is available here.

Because the Secondary Plan application was denied, the applicant may now appeal that decision to the Ontario Land Tribunal. The applicant may ask to combine a Secondary Plan appeal with the Urban Boundary Expansion appeal hearing for Elfrida, scheduled for January 2027. The applicant may also revise and resubmit technical studies to the City for further review.

Whitechurch

The OLT hearing for the Whitechurch Urban Boundary Expansion will be held in early October 2026.