The Manitoulin Planning Board adopted Official Plan Amendment (OPA) No. A-3 for an Area-Wide Natural Heritage System Strategy, (as amended from November 22nd, 2022) at the Regular Meeting of Plannng Board held on Tuesday, January 31st, 2023. It will be provided to the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing for their consideration of approval. The link to the 'Notice of Adoption' is found below. The OPA, No. A-3, is contained in the 'Appendix A' to the Planning Board Minutes of January 31st, 2023 found under the 'Public Notices' tab on the home page of our website.
Notice of Adoption - OPA No. A-3 - NHSS
November 22nd, 2022 A Public Meeting was held at the Planning Board Office in Gore Bay, Ontario to consider the adoption of an Official Plan Amendment (OPA) for a draft Natural Heritage System Strategy for the District of Manitoulin. The OPA was not adopted at this meeting.
November 15th 2022 - Draft Policy Text for the Natural Heritage System Strategy
The required Public Meeting was held on Tuesday, November 22nd, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. at the Planning Board Office, 40 Water Street, Gore Bay, Ontaio, to consider adopting an Area-Wide Natural Heritage System Stategy (NHSS) for the District of Manitoulin. An Amendment to the Official Plan for the District of Manitoulin will be drafted and sent to the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH) for approval. The link to the 'Notice of Public Meeting' is found below. The Minutes of the Public Meeting are available under the 'downloads' link at the top of the front page of our website. If you have any comments or concerns or recommendations, for the Planning Board to consider please provide your request in writing to the Manitoulin Planning Board Office. Thank you.
Notice of Public Meeting for an Area Wide Natural Heritage System Strategy (NHSS)
Draft Natural Heritage System Policies
Additional information is available by clicking on 'Public Notices' at the top of the front page of our website.
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Notice: On September 28, 2022 the Manitoulin Planning Board adopted Zoning By-law No. 2022-05, repealing and replacing the previous zoning by-law 96-01, for the Unincorporated Townships or Robinson and Dawson. Zoning By-law No. 2022-05 is now in effect. The text and mapping of By-law No. 2022-05 is available on our Downloads page.
About the Board
The Manitoulin Planning Board was created by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing under the Planning Act.The Board is composed of 10 members representing eight municipalities and two unincorporated townships on Manitoulin, and is supported by two staff members. Our office hours are 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM, Monday to Friday.
The Planning Board’s responsibilities include administration of the Official Plan for the Manitoulin Planning Area, implementation of the Zoning By-law for the unincorporated Townships of Dawson and Robinson, the review and approval of applications for land division (Consent and Subdivision), and other tasks under the Planning Act.
In addition to the foregoing applications, the staff provide planning assistance and information to all Member Municipalities, the Province and to the general public.
Official Plan
The District of Manitoulin Official Plan has been approved by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs on October 29, 2018. You can download the full text of the Plan here: Official Plan Text
The Schedules to the Official Plan (the mapping) are available as individual PDF files below.
Please Note: The Schedules (below) are NOT Zoning maps.
Schedule A - Settlement Structure
Schedule B - Land Use
Schedule B1 - Cockburn Island Land Use
Schedule B2 - Dawson and Robinson Land Use
Schedule B3 - Burpee-Mills Land Use
Schedule B4 - Gordon/Barrie Island Land Use
Schedule B5 - Billings Land Use
Schedule B6 - Central Manitoulin Land Use
Schedule B7 - Tehkummah Land Use
Schedule B8 - Assiginack Land Use
Schedule B9 - Manitowaning Urban Land Use
Schedule B10 - Mindemoya Urban Land Use
Schedule B11 - Gore Bay Urban Land Use
Schedule C - Transportation
Schedule C1 - Transportation Gore Bay
Schedule C2 - Transportation Manitowaning
Schedule C3 - Transportation Mindemoya
Schedule D1 - Cockburn Island Natural Heritage
Schedule D2 - Dawson and Robinson Natural Heritage
Schedule D3 - Burpee-Mills Natural Heritage
Schedule D4 - Gordon/Barrie Island Natural Heritage
Schedule D5 - Billings Natural Heritage
Schedule D6 - Central Manitoulin Natural Heritage
Schedule D7 - Tehkummah Natural Heritage
Schedule D8 - Assiginack Natural Heritage
Schedule E - Development Constraints
Natural Heritage System
The Manitoulin Planning Board hosted a virtual Public Information Session for the Natural Heritage System on Wednesday, November 10 2021. Included here is the presentation that was made at the meeting, as well as draft mapping showing candidate core areas, open space areas, and linkages identified from existing available Natural Heritage feature mapping.
Manitoulin Natural Heritage System - Presentation
Manitoulin Natural Heritage System - Draft Policy
Draft Natural Heritage System Policies
Manitoulin Natural Heritage System - Draft Maps with Candidate Areas
Cockburn Island
Dawson and Robinson Township
Municipality of Burpee-Mills
Municipality of Gordon/Barrie Island
Municipality of Billings
Municipality of Central Manitoulin
Township of Tehkummah
Municipality of Assiginack
The Planning Board has hired a consultant to review the draft policies for the Natural Heritage System and is currently working towards updating draft policy and draft schedules to reflect this policy guidance. The report prepared by the consultant is available here: Natural Heritage System Policy Review.
Previously, the Manitoulin Planning Board had hosted a public information session for the creation of a Natural Heritage System Strategy (NHS) at the Mindemoya Community Centre at 6032 Highway 542 on Wednesday, August 21st 2019 from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM. A summary of the meeting is available here: Natural Heritage Information Session Summary
The maps shown at the meeting may be downloaded here:
Natural Heritage System - Administration
Natural Heritage System - Land Cover
Natural Heritage System - Surface Water
Natural Heritage System - Known Significant Wildlife Habitat
Natural Heritage System - Sample
Natural Heritage System - Sample2
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Gore Bay, ON P0P 1H0, CANADA T +1 (705) 282-2237