Why Update a Land Use Bylaw?

  • Municipalities regularly update their Land Use Bylaw to ensure the regulations are consistent with current provincial legislation, properly address current development trends, strategic planning priorities, and consider available environmental and demographic information. This is usually done every 5 to 10 years.
  • Municipalities may undertake a focused review and update of their Land Use Bylaw (e.g. to address one or two issues, or to be consistent with new provincial legislation). They may also decide to undertake a full, comprehensive review of the entire document.
  • Land Use Bylaw projects can take months or years to complete, depending on the complexity of the municipality, timing with other projects and priorities, and the scale of the review.
  • As development trends change and new technologies emerge, Land Use Bylaws must be updated to ensure the regulations properly address the land uses being proposed. Examples of this include changing demands for rural residential (acreage) development, cannabis production facilities, home occupations, renewable energy production, tourist home/rental accommodations, agri-tourism and recreation, etc.
  • Land Use Bylaw reviews for rural municipalities focus on improving economic development conditions so that the municipality can respond to shifting economic drivers and conditions and encourage rural economic development within their boundaries.
  • Land Use Bylaw updates often review ways to encourage more people to live in rural municipalities. This can include:
    • Encouraging or supporting new businesses and growth in hamlets to support rural populations and services such as health care and schools.
    • Allowing additional dwellings (e.g., in-law suites or garage suites) on residential lots to enable multiple generations to live on the same property or to provide rental revenue.
    • Supporting innovative and value-added agricultural operations to diversify farming opportunities in rural areas that support new and young farm families remaining on the farm or develop new farming operations at an affordable scale within the municipality.