Planning for the Future of our Strategic Growth Areas

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Banner showing images of Peterborough including the Market Hall, aerial views, and street views from downtown Peterborough

The City of Peterborough is developing a Secondary Plan and Community Planning Permit System for the City’s Strategic Growth Areas, as identified in the City’s New Official Plan as shown in Figure 1. The City of Peterborough has identified seven (7) key Strategic Growth Areas that will be the focus of the Secondary Plan, which are:

  1. Downtown Central Area
  2. Water Street North Corridor
  3. Chemong Road Corridor
  4. Clonsilla Avenue & Charlotte Street Corridor
  5. Lansdowne Street (West) Corridor
  6. Armour Road Corridor
  7. Lansdowne Street (East) Corridor

The Strategic Growth Areas (as shown with a red outline in the figure below) were selected for this planning exercise as they are the focus for intensification over the coming years. These are the areas where the City is investing in supporting more housing supply and will need to provide the infrastructure and community facilities to support more people living, working and playing in these neighbourhoods.

Figure 1: Strategic Growth Areas in Peterborough

Map of the city showing the study area/strategic growth areas of the city


The Secondary Plan will update the Official Plan policies for the City’s Strategic Growth Areas and will be implemented using a new tool for the City, through a new Community Planning Permit By-law (CPP By-law). The Secondary Plan will establish the long‐term vision, built form, permissions, and priorities for growth. This will provide the foundation needed to implement the vision by establishing development thresholds, criteria, community benefits and conditions that will be implemented through a CPP By‐law. With the two planning tools coming forward together, the City will be able to achieve optimal results ‐ good planning with accelerated implementation and approvals. This project is in support of the overall Official Plan vision and supports the key goals of increasing housing supply and supporting greater connectivity and neighborhood level planning in these strategic areas.

Community Engagement

The CPP By-law is intended to facilitate a positive change in how development approvals are processed in the Strategic Growth Areas, so it is important that the community understands what is changing and has an opportunity to share feedback through this process before the By-law is finalized and implemented. The planned engagement approach is built around five main themes of the project with seven rounds of engagement, each with unique objectives as outlined in Figure 2 and in the Project Timelines section of this page.

Figure 2: Engagement Process

Infographic of project phases and engagement process

The engagement stages will directly inform the development of the following key deliverables of the project, which include:

  1. A Secondary Plan for the Strategic Growth Areas;
  2. Community Planning Permit By-Law; and,
  3. Implementation support including:
    • Training materials; and,
    • Training for City Staff and developers.

Current and Upcoming Engagement Opportunities

Public engagement sessions will be scheduled for early February 2025. Event details will be shared once available. To receive updates, subscribe to project page by clicking on the link in the top right corner or emailing us.

Coffee Conversation Display Panels

On October 29th, 2024 the City of Peterborough's Planning Division hosted a Coffee Conversation at the McDonnel Activity Centre. Copies of the display panels from the October 29th Coffee Conversation are available below.






The City of Peterborough is developing a Secondary Plan and Community Planning Permit System for the City’s Strategic Growth Areas, as identified in the City’s New Official Plan as shown in Figure 1. The City of Peterborough has identified seven (7) key Strategic Growth Areas that will be the focus of the Secondary Plan, which are:

  1. Downtown Central Area
  2. Water Street North Corridor
  3. Chemong Road Corridor
  4. Clonsilla Avenue & Charlotte Street Corridor
  5. Lansdowne Street (West) Corridor
  6. Armour Road Corridor
  7. Lansdowne Street (East) Corridor

The Strategic Growth Areas (as shown with a red outline in the figure below) were selected for this planning exercise as they are the focus for intensification over the coming years. These are the areas where the City is investing in supporting more housing supply and will need to provide the infrastructure and community facilities to support more people living, working and playing in these neighbourhoods.

Figure 1: Strategic Growth Areas in Peterborough

Map of the city showing the study area/strategic growth areas of the city


The Secondary Plan will update the Official Plan policies for the City’s Strategic Growth Areas and will be implemented using a new tool for the City, through a new Community Planning Permit By-law (CPP By-law). The Secondary Plan will establish the long‐term vision, built form, permissions, and priorities for growth. This will provide the foundation needed to implement the vision by establishing development thresholds, criteria, community benefits and conditions that will be implemented through a CPP By‐law. With the two planning tools coming forward together, the City will be able to achieve optimal results ‐ good planning with accelerated implementation and approvals. This project is in support of the overall Official Plan vision and supports the key goals of increasing housing supply and supporting greater connectivity and neighborhood level planning in these strategic areas.

Community Engagement

The CPP By-law is intended to facilitate a positive change in how development approvals are processed in the Strategic Growth Areas, so it is important that the community understands what is changing and has an opportunity to share feedback through this process before the By-law is finalized and implemented. The planned engagement approach is built around five main themes of the project with seven rounds of engagement, each with unique objectives as outlined in Figure 2 and in the Project Timelines section of this page.

Figure 2: Engagement Process

Infographic of project phases and engagement process

The engagement stages will directly inform the development of the following key deliverables of the project, which include:

  1. A Secondary Plan for the Strategic Growth Areas;
  2. Community Planning Permit By-Law; and,
  3. Implementation support including:
    • Training materials; and,
    • Training for City Staff and developers.

Current and Upcoming Engagement Opportunities

Public engagement sessions will be scheduled for early February 2025. Event details will be shared once available. To receive updates, subscribe to project page by clicking on the link in the top right corner or emailing us.

Coffee Conversation Display Panels

On October 29th, 2024 the City of Peterborough's Planning Division hosted a Coffee Conversation at the McDonnel Activity Centre. Copies of the display panels from the October 29th Coffee Conversation are available below.






  • Upcoming Community Engagement Opportunities

    Share Upcoming Community Engagement Opportunities on Facebook Share Upcoming Community Engagement Opportunities on Twitter Share Upcoming Community Engagement Opportunities on Linkedin Email Upcoming Community Engagement Opportunities link

    illustration of different people at a meeting, sharing ideas and taking notes

    Upcoming Engagement Opportunities

    There will be multiple opportunities to provide feedback throughout the project process, including surveys, public meetings, workshops, interviews and working group meetings. Feedback will be documented and will be used to help inform the policies and directions that will be implemented through this exercise.

    The next round of community engagement is intended to collect feedback and input on the community vision for growth and will include the following activities:

    • Public Engagement: Early February 2025
    • Indigenous Community Outreach and Engagement: Ongoing

    To receive project updates, subscribe to project page by clicking on the link in the top right corner or emailing us.

    Stay tuned for more information on each round of engagement and how you can participate.

    Past Engagement Opportunities

    October 29, 2024: Coffee Conversation

    On October 29th, 2024 the City of Peterborough's Planning Division hosted a Coffee Conversation at the McDonnel Activity Centre. Copies of the display panels from the October 29th Coffee Conversation are available below.





    November 13, 2024: Downtown Farmer's Market Pop-up

    On November 13th, 2024 the City of Peterborough's Planning Division set-up a pop-up booth at Peterborough Square. Attendees were invited to provide their feedback on the display panels and online surveys.

    October 28 to November 22, 2024: Online Survey and Mapping Poll

    Participants were invited to share their perspectives on key priorities for Peterborough in planning for growth and development in our City’s Strategic Growth Areas through the online survey and mapping tool.

Page last updated: 20 Dec 2024, 06:41 AM