Official Community Plan

The Planning and Development Act, 2007, allows a council to adopt an official community plan (OCP). The OCP is the keystone of the planning process and is essential in managing future growth and development. Under the new legislation, the OCP must be prepared in consultation with a professional community planner as licensed under The Community Planning Profession Act. Additional review by a solicitor is highly recommended.

The purpose of the OCP is to provide a comprehensive policy framework to guide the physical, environmental, economic, social and cultural development of the municipality or any part of the municipality.  A community plan is a growth management strategy for a municipality. An OCP enables a municipality to set development goals, objectives and policies which council can use to manage land use, subdivision, municipal services, and public utilities in the municipality. An OCP must incorporate, as is practical, any applicable provincial land use policies and statements of provincial interest. An OCP is required to identify policies that address:

• sustainable current and future land use and development in the municipality;
• current and future economic development;
• the general provision of public works;
• the management of lands that are subject to natural hazards including, flooding, slope and instability;
• the management of environmentally sensitive lands;
• source water protection; and
• implementation of the OCP.

An OCP may:

• address the coordination of municipal programs relating to development;
• contain statements of policy regarding the use of dedicated lands;
• contain concept plans for future planning of development;
• contain a map or series of maps that denote current or future land use or policy areas;
• if a council has been declared an approving authority, contain policies respecting site plan control for specific commercial or industrial development;
• contain any other statements of policy relating to the physical, environmental, economic, social or cultural development of the municipality that the council considers advisable; and
• address the coordination of land use and development, future growth patterns and public works with adjacent municipalities.

Without an OCP, a municipality:

• has little control over development and cannot effectively manage land use;
• cannot coordinate development with services and capital planning;
• cannot manage the separation of incompatible land uses (e.g. residences and industrial or livestock operations); and
• cannot protect development from locating on hazard lands.

Every development plan or basic planning statement established pursuant to a former Act and existing before May 21, 2007, the day on which the Act came into force is deemed to be an OCP and is continued in force pursuant to section 248 of the Act, insofar as it is not inconsistent with the Act or a provincial land use policy or statement of provincial interest.

Zoning Bylaw

The primary legal and administrative means of implementing an OCP is a zoning bylaw. A zoning bylaw divides a municipality into zoning districts and regulates the development and use of land in those districts. The purposes of a zoning bylaw are to control the use of land for providing for the amenity of the area within the council’s jurisdiction, and for the health, safety and general welfare of the inhabitants of the municipality.  A zoning bylaw permits a council to set standards for the use and subdivision of land, and helps manage the supply of municipal services and resources to new development.  Click here to see the Bylaws and Forms webpage.

Enforcement

Any person who contravenes any of the provisions of an OCP or Zoning Bylaw is guilty of an offense under the Act .  Such a person is liable, on summary conviction, to the penalties provided by the Act.  The municipality has the authority to correct situations of zoning noncompliance by issuing zoning enforcement orders and following the procedures identified in the Act.

In the "Related Documents" section you will find links to:

• Preparation and Adoption of Bylaws 
• A Sample Stop Work Order 

If you need information before then please contact the Community Planning Branch at:

Regina Office:
Telephone: (306) 787-2725
Fax: (306) 798-0194
Mailing Address: 420-1855 Victoria Avenue,  Regina,  SK   S4P 3T2

Saskatoon Office:
Telephone: (306) 933-6937
Fax: (306) 933-7720
Mailing Address: 9th Floor, 122 3rd Avenue N,  Saskatoon,  SK   S7K 2H6