Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendment Proposal
South Bear Brook Wetland
In November 2021, the City of Ottawa engaged Parsons Corporation, an independent consultant, to conduct an evaluation of wetlands in the headwaters of South Bear Brook under the Ontario Provincial Policy Statement, 2020, and the Ontario Wetland Evaluation System (OWES). This wetland evaluation was triggered by Ottawa City Council’s approval of new urban lands in a portion of the area bounded by Leitrim Road, Farmers Way, Thunder Road, and Ramsayville Road (the future Tewin community).
On January 9, 2025, City staff provided an initial community “heads-up” informing that the City had initiated an application to make amendments to the Official Plan and to Zoning By-law due to the identification of a new provincially significant wetland – the South Bear Brook Wetland.
These amendments are intended to reflect recent updates published by the provincial Ministry of Natural Resources.
On January 20, 2025, City staff circulated its formal notification of this planning application. The deadline for comments was February 17, 2025.
While this “win” for wetlands is well worth celebrating, it is somewhat bittersweet. It is regretful that the provincial changes to the Ontario Wetland Evaluation System interfered with the original evaluation commissioned by the city, which would have included nearly twice as large an area in this newly identified and protected provincially significant wetland.
A staff report will be considered by the City’s Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee at some later date yet to be determined.
Check out the related video from Kate Porter at CBC Ottawa released on Wednesday, November 6, 2024, entitled “Hundreds of hectares of land near future Tewin suburb are now protected as wetlands.” It can be viewed here.
Preliminary wetland mapping for the study area
The map above shows the area where access to private property was requested and the preliminary wetland mapping for the study area.
The fieldwork for the wetland evaluation was completed in June and July of 2022. Initial scoring for the wetland was completed in October 2022.
Boundary Map of the provincially significant South Bear Brook Wetland
The wetland evaluation scoring was updated in July 2023 to comply with the revised and weakened OWES methodology.
The changes to the OWES were made by the provincial government in the fall of 2022, along with a host of other proposed legislative, regulatory, and policy changes purporting to support Ontario’s Housing Supply Action Plan.
Learn more about these changes
Saving Ontario's Disappearing Wetlands - the Goulbourn Wetland Complex
Friends of Stittsville Wetlands president and co-founder, Janet Stavinga, had a chance to speak with Kate Porter at CBC Ottawa about the rollback on protections for wetlands across the province, including the Goulbourn Wetland Complex. You can read the article on CBC News here.
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