Kingston is proposing to move its urban boundary. Here is what that means.

The urban boundary is the line that separates city from countryside. The City wants to move it.

Kingston is rewriting its Official Plan — the document that controls what gets built, where, and on what kind of land — through a process called YG220K. The Second Draft of that plan was released in March 2026. Public comments are due May 3.

The most consequential decision in this draft is a proposed expansion of the urban boundary. Once land is inside that boundary, it can be planned, serviced, and eventually developed as part of the city. Once that line moves, it is very difficult to move back.

The plan would add land in five designated expansion areas — identified as sections 10C1 through 10C5 on Map 15 of the Official Plan — concentrated in Kingston West and Kingston East.

Two independent analyses identified a land need. The proposed expansion is larger than either.

The City commissioned Watson & Associates Economists Ltd. to assess how much land Kingston actually needs to accommodate growth to 2051. Their findings are in two Council-endorsed reports: Report 24-172 (community area) and Report 24-221 (employment area).

Five expansion areas are designated in the Second Draft. All require additional infrastructure before development can proceed.

Each area is governed by phasing policies in Chapter 10C of the Second Draft OP. No development is permitted in any of these areas until infrastructure plans — the Integrated Mobility Plan and the Water and Wastewater Master Plan — are completed and Council invests accordingly. The policy language is consistent: these lands are approved for expansion, but are not needed in the short term.

• 10C1
  1504 and 1623 Highway 15 Kingston East. Rural lands south of Gore Road. Policy requires a coordinated Official Plan amendment across all property owners before any development can proceed. Must provide an ecological corridor doubling the one at 1429 Highway 15.
• 10C2
  3279 to 3403 Creekford Road Kingston West. Community area expansion lands west of the existing urban area. Development requires a master servicing plan and full infrastructure completion.
• 10C3
  Creekford North Industrial Area Kingston West. Designated for industrial transition. Intended to meet projected employment area land needs. Proceeds when Council determines infrastructure investment is warranted.
• 10C4
  Taylor Kidd Industrial Area Kingston West. Employment area expansion near the Taylor Kidd corridor. Not required in the short term; proceeds on Council's infrastructure timeline.
• 10C5
  Urban Area Expansion Lands The catch-all designation for remaining expansion lands on Map 15. Community area uses. Same phasing conditions: no development until infrastructure plans are satisfied and Council commits.

Source: Second Draft Official Plan, Chapter 10C, Policies 10C1.1–10C5.4. Phasing policies may be updated in the Third Draft based on ongoing Water and Wastewater Master Plan and Integrated Mobility Plan work.

Watson identified how much land was needed. The City chose where.

In December 2023, the City published a notice inviting private landowners to submit a "Notice of Intent" if they wanted their land considered for urban boundary expansion. The City received 21 such notices. Staff reviewed them and, according to Report 24-172, assessed approximately 219 hectares as potentially supportable for inclusion, with others unclear or not supportable.

The report is explicit: Watson's scope "does not include providing recommendations on the location of the urban boundary expansion lands." The location decisions were made by City staff and will be recommended to Council. The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing is the final approval authority.

The connection between which landowners submitted Notices of Intent and which lands appear inside the boundary on Map 15 is a matter of public record — but one that requires cross-referencing the NOI mapping in Report 24-172 (Exhibit B) against Map 15 of the Second Draft OP.

This is the last public comment window before the plan goes to a statutory public meeting.

The Second Draft is explicitly labelled "For Consultation Purposes Only" and has no legal effect. But comments submitted now inform what changes between the Second and Third Drafts. The statutory public meeting in June is a later, more formal window — but this comment period is where the plan is still actively being shaped.

You do not need to oppose expansion to participate. You can ask for facts.

Written comments submitted before May 3 become part of the public record. The following questions are grounded in the background studies and the Second Draft's own policy language. They do not require a position on whether expansion is good or bad.

1. Watson's analysis identified a community area land need of at least 340 ha and an employment area need of 405 ha — a combined figure of approximately 745 ha. The Second Draft designates approximately 1,176 ha on Map 15. What accounts for the difference, and where is that explained in the public record?
2. Report 24-172 lists 21 Notices of Intent from private landowners requesting boundary expansions. Which of the five 10C expansion areas originated as applicant-driven requests, and what criteria were applied in selecting them over other locations?
3. The phasing policies in Chapter 10C state that none of the expansion lands can be developed until the Integrated Mobility Plan and the Water and Wastewater Master Plan are completed and infrastructure is in place. What is the projected cost of that infrastructure, and who will pay for it?
4. Report 24-172 identifies 169 hectares of Environmental Protection Area and approximately 433 hectares of other mapped natural heritage features within the proposed expansion envelope — figures confirmed in a joint staff report cited by Kingstonist. How does the Natural Heritage Study, currently in draft, address development pressure on those features once the boundary is set?
5. The Second Draft is expected to guide development until 2051, but will be reviewed every five to ten years. Why is this boundary expansion being finalized by a Council in the final months of its term rather than presented as a decision for the council elected on October 26, 2026?