News Release

Feb. 9, 2021

Milton Council endorses land-use vision for Milton’s new Official Plan

On Feb. 8, 2021, Milton Council endorsed the vision statement and guiding principles for We Make Milton, the Town’s new Official Plan, greenlighting a modern, forward-looking land-use vision for the community to the year 2051.

The vision statement is:

Milton 2051: Choice Shapes Us
In 2051, Milton offers a diversity of options for how and where we live, work, move and grow. As we evolve, choice is what shapes us.

The new vision for Milton’s Official Plan has been crafted to reflect the things that the community and stakeholders deemed important and valuable, through extensive engagement. The vision builds on Milton’s attributes and the community’s priorities, and is intended to be realistic, yet aspirational.

“Over the years, Milton has evolved into a diverse, young and innovative community,” said Mayor Gord Krantz. “The new vision for our Official Plan reflects our growing community, provides choice for residents and makes Milton a Place of Possibility for all. Choice will shape our community to the year 2051.”

Milton’s new Official Plan vision statement is supported by a set of guiding principles that identify more specific directions for protecting and enhancing the community’s core values and priorities. Moving forward, the vision will provide the basis for policy development and be included in the new Official Plan, once drafted and approved.

“The Choice Shapes Us vision articulates that the need for choice will inform how Milton physically changes in terms of land uses and built form, and will guide how the Town makes decisions about managing future growth and development,” said Barb Koopmans, Commissioner of Development Services. “Milton is a diverse community, therefore the choices it offers will be diverse, too. Sometimes choices will coincide and sometimes they will differ. Making choices will involve compromise and trade-offs as Milton evolves and grows. As we make choices, we want to be inclusive and enable a community that provides something for everyone.”

The Council-approved We Make Milton Visioning Report is a major project milestone, marking the end of the second phase of the new Official Plan project. The Report details the vision statement, guiding principles, community feedback and results of significant public consultation efforts.

Next steps

The We Make Milton project is now moving into Phase 3: Big Questions, where staff will identify and answer critical policy questions about how to manage change to the year 2051 based on community input. Phase 3 includes detailed policy discussions and recommended policy directions for Milton’s new Official Plan. Four discussion papers will be drafted with recommended land-use planning policies that focus on four key themes developed through the visioning process – living, working, moving and growing in Milton.

About We Make Milton

The We Make Milton project is intended to be an innovative, engaging and inclusive undertaking through which all residents can find meaningful, equitable and relevant opportunities to contribute. It’s a community engagement initiative to encourage residents, businesses and stakeholders to get involved in the creation of Milton’s new Official Plan.

The community is encouraged to stay involved and follow the project on Let’s Talk Milton, the Town’s public engagement platform.

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