Official Plan

Project News!

March 2025

A Public Meeting to review and discuss the latest draft of the City of Charlottetown's Official Plan was held March 12 at 7 p.m. at Charlottetown City Hall. The meeting included an overview of the draft Official Plan and provided opportunities for questions from residents and stakeholders. A recording of the Public Meeting can be viewed at www.charlottetown.ca/video. Once adopted by Council, the Plan will act as the City’s long-term vision for land use and development, positioning Charlottetown for sustainable growth and ensuring the preservation of the City’s unique natural and historic assets.

Residents have until March 25, 2025 (Tuesday) at 12 noon to submit feedback and can do so in any of the following ways:

• Fill out a feedback form to share your thoughts (this form can also be found in the "Important Links" section on the right sidebar)
• Email the Planning and Heritage Department at planning@charlottetown.ca
• Written submissions can be delivered to the City’s Planning & Heritage Department, 70 Kent Street, Charlottetown

All feedback is welcome.

The draft Official Plan was developed through extensive public consultation and all feedback will be incorporated into a final version which will be presented to City Council for approval this spring.

An official plan is a policy framework that sets out a long-term vision and land-use policies but does not directly regulate or approve specific developments. Implementing a new Zoning and Development Bylaw is one of the next steps after Council adopts the Official Plan. The Zoning and Development Bylaw will be the regulatory framework for all new developments and will introduce residential zones and accompanying design guidelines. Public consultations on the Zoning and Development Bylaw will be held over the spring and summer, with work anticipated to be completed by fall 2025.

January 2025

Want to provide your comments on the most recent Draft Official Plan? Fill out a feedback form to share your thoughts (this form can also be found in the "Important Links" section on the right sidebar).

Winter 2024/25

The project is nearing completion as the Official Plan moves towards its formal adoption. The Planning and Heritage Committee presented the Official Plan project process, an overview of the Draft Official Plan and the next steps on Dec. 12, 2024. View the presentation in the documents folder on the right side of this page. You can also find the most up to date version of the Official Plan under the documents tab.

About the Plan

The City of Charlottetown is developing a new Official Plan – the City’s long-term plan for how land is used and developed in the community. The new Official Plan is an opportunity to address, through planning policy, a number of growth-related challenges facing Charlottetown today and in the future. The purpose of the City’s new Official Plan is to establish the municipality's general land use planning policies and ensure that growth is coordinated and meets the needs of the community.

The new plan will also provide the framework for establishing municipal zoning bylaws, update secondary plans and create design standards and guidelines. Taken together, the new Official Plan will serve as a roadmap for how Charlottetown will grow and develop over the next 20 years.

Your input helped shape the foundation of the Charlottetown Official Plan. Thanks for participating in planning the future of your community in this exciting opportunity!

About the Project

The Charlottetown Official Plan project is an exciting opportunity to define how the City will grow and to create a cohesive vision for the future. An Official Plan is a document that serves as a roadmap to how a city or community will develop over a given period of time. It helps to lay out the development pattern, determining which types of land uses are permitted where, at what intensity, and in what form. The Official Plan also contains policies relating to issues such as the protection of natural areas and resources, the location of housing, public spaces, or community facilities, as well as the need for infrastructure like sewer, water, and roads. The new plan will help Charlottetown flourish by embracing new opportunities, confronting its challenges, and leveraging its assets.

The current Official Plan was first written in 1999. Municipal planning staff did their best to keep the document current by adopting more recent Secondary Plans, but it is well known that Charlottetown is not the same place it was 20 years ago. There is a need for a new Plan so that it meets the current and future needs of Charlottetown residents.