10-Year Official Community Plan Update

We are updating the Official Community Plan (OCP) for Victoria to meet the needs of our growing population and address the housing and climate crises. Thank you to everyone who shared their input during the engagement period. Your feedback helped shape the draft Official Community Plan that will guide our city into the future.

What’s Happening
This April, Council provided direction to move forward with the next steps in the OCP update process. The City is now preparing bylaws and taking procedural steps to bring the plan and related polices and bylaws forward for final Council review this summer. A public hearing will likely follow in the fall at which time you are invited to participate.

What it Means for Victoria and Your Community
The proposed OCP, modernized zoning and updated Development Permit Areas are citywide process and may affect all properties and neighbourhoods in Victoria. These updates as well as other new policies and regulations support housing solutions, climate action and complete communities that will shape Victoria into 2050. Review a summary of the materials Council will be considering leading up to the public hearing.

Upcoming Public Hearing - Have Your Say
The public hearing is your final opportunity to have your voice heard on the proposed OCP update. Check this page for project updates and sign up for the OCP newsletter to keep in the know about the upcoming public hearing date and OCP news.

The Official Community Plan – It’s. A. BIG. DEAL
The Official Community Plan is the long-term plan that determines how our community will grow and change. Decisions on where housing, businesses and parks should go, how we move around the city are all determined by the OCP.

Places & Spaces - Place-based Planning
As part of the OCP update, the City worked with community members to consider the future of places and spaces in James Bay, Oaklands and Jubilee, Fort Street and Oak Bay Avenue, which are areas without recent neighbourhood plans. This part of the process, along with more recent neighbourhood plans, informed the proposed Rezoning and Development Policy. Learn more about this part of the process at engage.victoria.ca/places-spaces.

The Official Community Plan: It's. A. Big. Deal.
The Official Community Plan (OCP) shapes how we live, work and play in Victoria. It's the long-term plan that determines how our community will grow and change. Decisions on where housing, businesses and parks should go, how we move around the city and ways Victoria can respond to the climate crisis are all determined by the OCP. If the City was a train, the OCP would be its conductor leading the way.

News Feed

OCP at Council

Staff brought forward the draft OCP and related policies and bylaws to Council in a series of presentations between February and April of this year. In case you missed it, you can view all the OCP Council meetings below:

February 27
Draft Official Community Plan and proposed regulatory directions were presented to Council
March 6
Presentations continued, questions were asked and answered and changes were proposed
April 3
Council considered a series of changes to the proposed directions based on reports directed at the March 6 meeting and voted to move the process forward
April 17
The decision to move the process forward was ratified by Council
Let's Talk: Climate - OCP Online Information Session

Check out the video of our July 16 Let's Talk Info session! This was the last online OCP information session of the series and focused on OCP topics as well as climate topics and how Victoria can grow and change to become a more resilient and adaptable city.
Thanks to those that attended and provided feedback.
This may be the last info session, but you can still have your say by taking the OCP survey until September 1, 2024.
Let's Talk: Community - OCP Online Session

On June 11 and June 13 we held the third and fourth of our online information sessions to provide information on the Official Community Plan update, collect your input and answer your questions.
In addition to looking at OCP topics, these sessions also dug a bit deeper into transportation, local economy and parks and open spaces topics.
View the June 11 session above and don't forget to register for the next ones focused on climate topics on July 16 and July 18.
Looking for more ways to have your say? Check out our upcoming events.
Open House Boards

Did you know you can view the OCP open house boards online? It's true!

If you couldn't make the first two open houses and are unable to attend the next one on July 6, you can still check out the information boards to learn all about the OCP update and how Victoria can grow and change into the future.

You can also view the event photos from the first two open houses and some of our pop-ups here.
Meeting in a Box

Introducing Meeting in a Box! This is your toolkit to help lead community conversations and collect written feedback on the 10-Year Official Community Plan update.
The OCP is a big deal and everyone's voice is needed to help shape how Victoria can grow and change into the future to meet the needs of our growing population and address the housing and climate crises.
Meeting in a Box includes a presentation and discussion questions to guide you through group discussions about the OCP. Click to download the Meeting in a Box Host Package and the Participant Package.
Completed Meeting in a Box materials should be submitted by September 1, 2024. Please email us at ocp@victoria.ca if you intend to submit your materials after August 1, 2024.
Thank you for taking the time to gather and share your thoughts on Victoria's future. We look forward to hearing from you.
Let's Talk: Housing - OCP Online Session

On April 16 and April 18 we held online information sessions to provide information on the Official Community Plan update, collect your input and answer your questions.
The session covered key points of the OCP update and also dug a bit deeper into OCP housing topics.
View the April 16 session above and don't forget to register for the next ones focused on community topics related to transportation, local economy and parks and open spaces on June 11 and June 13.
Looking for more ways to have your say? Check out our upcoming events.