Site Plan Application Process

A Site Plan Review process is required to facilitate commercial, industrial, institutional and multiple residential development, and specific residential development in certain mature areas of the City, in accordance with Section 41 of the Ontario Provincial Planning Act. Site Plan Control is implemented through City of Brampton By-laws 96-86, as amended.

Site Plan Approval is required prior to the issuance of a Building Permit for all developments subject to Site Plan Control.

Site Plan Review and Approval is also required for proposals occurring in the Mature Neighbourhood Areas (see map) involving additions, new or replacement single detached dwellings, of 50 square metres or greater, or involving a detached garage (of any size).

The Site Plan Review process examines design and technical aspects of a proposed development to ensure compliance with all municipal requirements, standards and objectives. Site Plan applications are generally reviewed with respect to (but not limited to) the following considerations:

zoning by-law requirements;
grading and servicing standards;
transportation and transit planning standards;
urban design objectives;
landscaping standards;
accessibility standards;
environmental conservation;
conformity with provincial noise, vibration and odour guidelines;
other external agencies’ requirements.

Please note, approval of Site Plan applications has been delegated by Council to Planning staff. As such, a Statutory Public meeting under the Planning Act is not required in the Site Plan Review process.

There are four (4) streams of Site Plan Review designed to evaluate proposals based on their scale and complexity:

Excluded from Site Plan Control - Proposals with only minor physical changes to a site or building exterior or, that are controlled by other review processes, may be excluded from Site Plan Review.

Limited Site Plan Review - For proposals involving a simple single activity, that do not require external agency review or a Site Plan Agreement/ amendments. Multiple simple, single activities cannot be accommodated in the Limited stream and will be addressed through the Basic Site Plan Review stream.

Basic Site Plan Review - For small proposals, that involve a scoped set of technical reviews. Pre-Application Consultation meeting is encouraged.

Full Site Plan Review - For all other proposals that require technical reviews by most internal groups and any number of external agencies and require the preparation of a new Site Plan Agreement. Pre-Application Consultation meeting is encouraged.

(Note: The City of Brampton no longer processes “Site Plan Waivers” as this process has been replaced by the Excluded and Limited Site Plan review streams.)

For a detailed description of the process, guidelines on how to submit applications and digital materials please refer to the following links:

Additional Application Requirements

Digital Plan Submission Requirements

Submission of digital plans should adhere to the Digital Submission Standards as contained in the links below. Appendix 'A' - Site Plan Approval outlines the digital submission requirements. The City's digital base file (Site Plan Seed File) is provided in both MicroStation (.dgn) and AutoCAD (.dwg) format.

Process Steps

Step 1 – Determine Your Need for Site Plan Review

Review the Excluded from Site Plan Control List to see if a proposed development activity is excluded from Site Plan Control or not:

If it is Excluded – proceed to Building Division to learn about the other requirements for a Building Permit;
If it is not Excluded or if you are unsure – proceed to Step 2.

Step 2 – Determine Appropriate Site Plan Review Stream

If the proposed development activity is not excluded, or if the potential for excluded status is unclear, then contact the Development Services and Design Division on the 3rd floor of City Hall or at planning.development@brampton.ca to clarify the most appropriate Site Plan review stream to follow:

If Planning staff determines that the Limited Stream is appropriate, go to Step 3a;
If Planning staff determine that either the Basic or Full Stream is appropriate, go to Step 3b

Step 3a – Apply for a Limited Site Plan Review

Please submit an application through BramPlanOnline and include the following documents:

A scanned/completed/signed Site Plan Application form
Drawings and materials sufficient to describe the nature of the proposal;
There is no fee for the Limited review stream at this time.

Step 3b – Apply for a Pre-Application Consultation Meeting (PAC)

In accordance with the City’s Official Plan and the Site Plan Review User Guide, Applicants are encouraged to consult with staff prior to the submission of an application requiring Planning Act approval. The Pre-Application Consultation (PAC) meeting provides the Applicant with a checklist and comments to follow when preparing a Site Plan Application (either Basic or Full). The PAC will identify:

Key issues that will need to be addressed in the Site Plan application submission;
Materials required for the Site Plan Review (e.g. drawings, reports, studies, etc.);
Possible conditions that will be included in a Site Plan Agreement;
The need for a Sustainability Assessment; and
Other applications/approvals that may be required to accommodate the proposal.

PAC meetings are designed to review and comment on mature site plan proposals only. If an Applicant has conceptual questions about a proposal they may contact the Assistant Development Planner at planning.development@brampton.ca or visit the 3rd floor Planning counter at City Hall to receive answers and feedback, prior to applying for a PAC meeting.

Request a PAC meeting by making an application through BramPlanOnline with the following documents:

A mature proposal presented with professionally prepared drawings and materials that sufficiently describe the proposal.
A completed and signed Registered Owners’ Authorization
Payment for the fee.

The meeting will be scheduled on the next available Tuesday afternoon time slot occurring after a period sufficient to conduct a preliminary technical review.

Please note that the guidance provided through the PAC meeting is based on a cursory review of the proposal and therefore may be updated during the more detailed review of a formal site plan application.

Step 4 – Attend the PAC Meeting

At the PAC meeting the Applicant will have an opportunity to further discuss their proposal with City staff. In response, staff will provide the Applicant with a Checklist and comments to guide the preparation of the Basic or Full Site Plan Application submission.

Step 5 - BASIC or FULL Site Plan Application Submission

Use the Checklist provided at the PAC meeting to assemble the Site Plan Review application submission. The SP file number assigned at the PAC will continue to be used for the submission of the formal Site Plan Application.

Contact the Assigned Planner (introduced at the PAC meeting) to:

Arrange for a submission appointment
Review and confirm fee calculation (page 11 of the application form)

Arrive at the submission appointment with:

Application checklist (received at the PAC meeting)
Completed/signed Registered Owner’s Authorization Form
All required drawings and materials (see Site Plan User Guide for required quantities of paper and Appendix A Digital Submission Standards for the electronic versions)
Payment for the confirmed applicable fee

During the submission appointment the Assigned Planner will check the following:

That the submission package contains all of the elements requested on the Checklist and PAC comments;
That issues identified at the PAC have been addressed;
That the drawings and materials are of a quality to adequately describe the proposed site plan activity.

Please note that the City cannot accept an application package until all required elements are included.

Step 6 - Circulation to Internal Departments/Divisions, External Agencies

The application will be circulated to all pertinent internal divisions, departments and external agencies (e.g. Region of Peel, Conservation Authorities, etc.) for review and comment.

If necessary, the application will be presented by the assigned Planner at an internal Site Plan Team meeting with representatives of internal divisions/departments to discuss the details of the application and any related issues.

Step 7 - Site Plan Report

Comments received from all pertinent internal divisions/departments and external agencies are consolidated by the assigned Planner into a comprehensive Site Plan Report which will be released to the Applicant for further action.

Please note that no revised plan drawings are to be resubmitted to the City until the Site Plan Report is issued to the Applicant, unless agreed upon by the assigned Planner. An unexpected resubmission may complicate the review and result in unnecessary delays.

Step 8 - Resubmission and Follow-Up

The Applicant may be required to submit revisions to their Application to address issues or provide missing information as requested in the Site Plan Report.

As the Applicant revises their proposal they may wish to directly interact with specific Technical Reviewers to clarify issues or comments provided in the Site Plan Report. Emails sent to specific Technical Reviewers should be copied to the assigned Planner.

After revising their submission, the Applicant must send the assigned Planner (via email) a detailed description in a cover letter, identifying how each item in the Site Plan report has been addressed. The assigned Planner will review the cover letter and provide the Applicant with a clearance to submit the revised submission or will ask the Applicant to make further changes prior to re-submission. Re-submissions without an accompanying clearance email from the assigned Planner cannot be accepted.

Re-submissions are to be sent to the attention of the assigned Planner (organized in separate packages for each Technical Reviewer) who will arrange to circulate the new material to the appropriate Technical Reviewers.

The respective divisions/departments/agencies will confirm clearance and any applicable conditions for approval to the Assigned Planner when all requirements are satisfied.

Click here for Guidance on Re-Submissions.

Step 9 - Site Plan Approval or Refusal

Once all divisions/departments/agencies have confirmed that previous concerns are resolved, then the Applicant will be asked for a final set of drawings that reflects all of the changes identified during Site Plan Review. A Notice of Conditional Approval (NCA) will be prepared and sent to the Applicant with a copy to Legal Services.

If identified concerns or requests for additional information have not been addressed by the Applicant, then a recommendation for Site Plan Refusal may be forwarded to the Director of Development Services and Design for approval/signature. If a Refusal is confirmed, then the Applicant will have two options to proceed:

submit a completely new Site Plan application that addresses the identified issues; or
file an appeal of the Refusal with the Ontario Land Tribunal.

If a Site Plan Agreement is required in conjunction with the Site Plan Review, the Legal Services Division will prepare a Site Plan Agreement based on the NCA and will advise the Applicant when it is ready for execution.

Please note that Site Plan Approval will not take place until all pre-approval conditions in the Site Plan Agreement, as confirmed by Legal Services (e.g. executed agreement, land conveyances, easements, submission of R-Plan, payment of fees, etc.) and Finance Administration (e.g. insurance certificate, financial securities, etc.) are satisfied.

Option: During the time that the Site Plan Agreement is being prepared and executed the Applicant may ask the Assigned Planner to prepare a Substantial Completion Memorandum to facilitate the acceptance of an ‘incomplete’ Building Permit Application by the Building Division.

Upon the release of the final approved site plan documents, the Applicant is to keep one (1) copy of stamped/approved plan drawings for their records and submit two (2) copies of the stamped/approved plan drawings along with the required submission materials for a Building Permit Application, to the Building Division.

Step 10 - Post Construction Compliance Review and Security Reductions

Upon the completion of the Site Plan Agreement improvements, the Owner may commence the process to release their securities by providing the Open Space group (at open.space@brampton.ca) with all applicable consultant’s certificates and electronic copies of as-constructed drawings to verify that site works have been completed in accordance with the approved certificate templates. City staff will complete site compliance reviews to confirm the works are satisfactory in order to grant performance acceptance and make a recommendation to reduce the securities.

Reduction of the securities is subject to approval from the Open Space group, the Environmental and Development Engineering Division, and the Legal Services Department before being processed by the Finance Department. A minimum 10% security holdback will normally be retained for the duration of a one-year maintenance warranty period.

A request to grant final acceptance and release of the security holdback at the end of the maintenance warranty period may be made to the Open Space Development group (at open.space@brampton.ca). Site compliance reviews will again be undertaken, followed by release of the security holdback. A request for final acceptance must be received prior to October 15th of each year, otherwise final acceptance compliance reviews will be deferred to the following spring after all plant material is in full leaf.

Site Plan Application Process

Digital Plan Submission Requirements

Process Steps

Related Resources

Citizens' Guide to Land Use Planning Process in Ontario