Key terms

An official plan describes a municipal council's policies on how land in a community should be used. It is prepared with input from the community and helps to ensure that future planning and development will meet the specific needs of the community.

An official plan deals mainly with issues such as:

• where new housing, industry, offices and shops will be located
• what services like roads, watermains, sewers, parks and schools will be needed
• when, and in what order, parts of your community will grow
• community improvement initiatives

Official Plans must meet the requirements of the Government of Ontario's Provincial Planning Statement and Planning Act. In Oxford, the County is the approval authority for Official Plan policies and there is one Official Plan for all eight area municipalities. Area municipalities have input into the contents of the Official Plan and there may be policies pertaining to specific areas of the County.

See also: Citizen’s Guide to Land Use Planning – Official Plans

Municipal comprehensive reviews are a process to ensure a municipality's Official Plan conforms with the policies of Ontario's Provincial Planning Statement.

The Phase 1 steps in a comprehensive review include:

• Calculating the expected future growth in population, households, and employment across Oxford County
• Calculating the expected future growth of area municipalities in Oxford County 
• Determining how much land supply exists now in Oxford County for growth and development, and then what is needed to accommodate future growth
• Seeking public input on the components of the Phase One Comprehensive Review
• Release of the final Phase One Comprehensive Review Report to the public

The Growth Forecast is a forecast of anticipated growth of population, households and employment activity based on national, provincial and local statistics on births/deaths, age and life stage of the population, migration, and employment and economic development.

A land need analysis provides municipalities with a calculation of how much land is needed for future development (to build houses, businesses and facilities, recreation areas, etc.) to meet its projected growth (increase in people, households, employment).