On Wednesday, January 28th, 2026, City Council approved the final draft of the New Comprehensive Zoning By-law, along with a number of motions and amendments that are to be incorporated by staff in the new year.
A noteable greenspace-related motion that passed on Jan 28th included Riley Brockington’s motion to revert the prized McCarthy Woods and Southern Corridor lands back to the more protected zoning designations from the first draft, getting rid of the “Developmental Reserve” designation that these lands were slated for in the most recent draft. An additional win: the staff-initiated motion brought forward in December to increase front yard setbacks to 4.5m in subzone B, with the intent to provide more space for tree planting, was accepted in the approval of the by-law. One of CAFES’ core recommendations was to align minimum front yard setback sizes with the volume/space required for a canopy tree to thrive.
Councillors King and Dudas moved on electric vehicle readiness – staff are directed to monitor EV ownership and report back to Council in 2029 and earlier if new information is available regarding the ZBL setting requirements for new multi-unit residential building parking lot EV preparedness, and that staff explore market-driven incentives and potential partnerships as a means to encourage greater implementation of EV-ready infrastructure.
The Zoning By-law is a huge achievement for staff, Council and the community as it has been in the works for almost 5 years – bringing forward incredible community-led advocacy and hard work by staff to create a by-law that reflects our City’s Official Plan, provides new and improved housing opportunities and creates a livable, green and compact city for all residents.
CAFES has been engaged on the new by-law since City planners began working on the first draft in 2023. To date, we have submitted a CAFES Trees and Zoning position paper, followed by three detailed submissions on drafts 1, 2 and 3 (the first two with the People’s Official Plan Coalition).
Most recently, in December 2025, CAFES delegated and provided a written submission when the final draft was being tabled at the Joint Planning and Housing and Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee. We continued to push for researched-based metrics on how zoning can regulate spaces for trees, for instance through soil volume. While we received feedback that zoning cannot necessarily regulate soil volume, Councillor Leiper provided a direction to staff to conduct a study on how this may be enforced and implemented through zoning, which we may hear back on in early 2027. Raymond Leury also delegated in December on behalf of CAFES, EVCO and the Federation of Citizens Association (FCA) on parking lot Electric Vehicle readiness; in particular, that zoning should require all new parking spaces to be constructed with electrical conduits and wiring to support long-term projections and the City’s 2050 net-zero goal. See CAFES’ news post from December for the delegations and a recap of the December Committee meeting.
Visit the Engage Ottawa zoning page for updates and links to the approved By-law. You can watch the recording of the Jan 28th City Council meeting on YouTube here.