Building up Downtown and Stone Road/Edinburgh Road areas to attract more affordable housing and boost housing supply
Guelph, Ont., April 10, 2025 – To support our growing community and address the need for new homes, City Council will now allow for taller buildings in the Downtown and Stone Road/Edinburgh Road areas.
The City of Guelph is expected to grow to 208,000 people and 116,00 jobs by 2051. Downtown Guelph and the area around Stone Road/Edinburgh Road will be home to many of the new people and jobs driving the city’s growth over the next 30 years.
“By building up these key growth areas, especially near our central transit station, the City is making it easier to bring more housing to Guelph,” said City of Guelph Mayor Cam Guthrie. “These new height allowances will ensure more people have a place to call home as our city grows and will amplify the vibrancy of the downtown core.”
What’s changing in Downtown Guelph
City Council has approved an Official Plan Amendment that will allow taller buildings in the Downtown Secondary Plan Area. Taller buildings will be restricted to strategic locations and include the following requirements:
- The maximum building height has increased to 24 storeys in some locations.
- Tall buildings will be allowed in the peripheral areas of Downtown to preserve the historic character of the city’s core.
- The iconic view of the Basilica of Our Lady from Macdonell Street is now being protected.
What’s changing in the Stone Road/Edinburgh Road Area
City Council has approved a new Community Planning Permit Bylaw and Official Plan Amendment for the Stone Road/Edinburgh Road area. The changes are part of a community planning permit system—a Provincial land use planning tool that municipalities can use to help plan the future of their communities. Here’s what you can expect under the new bylaw:
- Streamlined approvals for development projects: The new bylaw combines zoning bylaw amendments, minor variances and site plan approvals into a single, more efficient approvals process.
- Taller buildings with added community benefits: Under the current zoning bylaw, buildings can be:
- Up to six storeys in mixed use areas
- Up to 10 storeys in high-density residential areas
Under the new bylaw, buildings can be:
- Up to 18 storeys in mixed use areas
- Up to 14 storeys in high-density residential areas
To build at these new heights, builders must include affordable housing or other needs identified by the City as part of the project.
The Community Planning Permit System is one of the eight commitments in the Housing Accelerator Fund action plan to fast-track housing development. It is also an action in the City’s Housing Affordability Strategy, designed to bring more housing that is affordable to Guelph over the next decade.
In the next phase of the project, the City will look at how a Community Planning Permit bylaw could be applied to Downtown Guelph. The focus of this next phase will be to assess core needs in the Downtown and speed up approvals. There are no current plans to further increase building heights in the Downtown as part of this project.
Learn more
You can view the Community Planning Permit Bylaw and the Official Plan amendments in the April 8 Council Planning meeting agenda. The bylaw and Official Plan amendments are subject to a 20-day appeal period, as defined by the Planning Act.
To learn more about the changes to each key growth area, you can:
- Visit the Downtown Building Heights Study and Built Forms Standards for Tall Buildings page.
- Visit the Community Planning Permit System page.
Resources
- April 8 Council Planning documents
- Community Planning Permit System – Ontario.ca
- Guelph’s Housing Accelerator Fund Action Plan
- Housing Affordability Strategy
- Housing in Guelph
Media Contact
Rachel Gardner-Ursel
Advisor, Strategic Communications
Strategic Communications and Community Engagement
City of Guelph
519-766-2761
[email protected]