October 30, 2025 update:

If you successfully registered as a Participant in the Elfrida OLT case, you will have been copied on an emailed notice from the Case Manager Ryan Co on October 27, 2025. The city's lawyer (Patrick McDonald) has requested to consolidate three different expansion applications for Elfrida into one case. There are many landowners who want to expand the boundary in Elfrida and three of the cases are listed. The OLT needs to hold a hearing to make that decision. The landowners may not want to consolidate but rather have their own hearings. The hearing to decide whether to consolidate the cases or not is scheduled for 10am on Weds, Dec 3. This is not the actual hearing on whether the urban boundary will be expanded, it's only to decide to consolidate or not. Therefore it's not crucial that you log in to watch but for your interest you might want to. As a Participant you can only watch with camera and mic off, but your presence shows that Hamilton is watching. The link to the GoTo meeting (similar to a zoom meeting) is in the document and below. You can download the GoTo app or watch in your web browser.

Request by: City of Hamilton

Motion for: Consolidating Proceedings

A hearing of this motion has been set for: 10:00 AM, Wednesday, December 3, 2025

AT: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/660145013

Access Code: 660-145-013

The Tribunal has set aside one (1) day for this matter.

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September 15, 2025 update: Please send a message to the OLT by September 19 (instructions below) AND plan to attend the first Case Management Conference at 10:00am on September 29, 2025 which will be held virtually. Link to meeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/687587165 Access Code to join the online meeting: 687-587-165

Instructions to send a message to the OLT against forced urban boundary expansion in Elfrida:

Deadline is September 19 and messages can only be sent via the Participant Request and Statement form HERE

• Tribunal Case number: OLT-25-000591

• Date of first Case Management Conference: September 29, 2025

• Fill in your name and email

• Representative: ignore, not relevant

• Write your statement in the box on the form. Be sure to say you are AGAINST this proposal.

• Save your completed participant request by using the ‘save’ button on the form page.

• Write an email asking to be granted participant status for this case and put the OLT case number in the subject line. If you receive a reply from a lawyer challenging your request please 'reply all' that as a citizen and taxpayer of Hamilton you have a right to participate in growth decisions that will affect property taxes and housing affordability city-wide.

• Attach your completed Participant Request Form to your email

• Send your email and the attached form to the following three contacts:

  Ryan.Co@ontario.ca

  jhoffman@goodmans.ca

  Patrick.MacDonald@hamilton.ca

Information on the Elfrida expansion is on the City website HERE

Start by saying you have an interest in the case because you are a resident and taxpayer of Hamilton.

State your position that you are against the expansion of Hamilton’s urban boundary into Elfrida for the following reasons:

Please use your own words - do not copy/paste or your letter will be disregarded. Choose one or two of the topics below if you wish and expand on it in your own words.

Staff and consultants have confirmed that urban expansion would be financially detrimental to the City. From the staff report: “The City had the applicant’s Fiscal Impact Assessment peer reviewed by Watson & Associates. Based on the findings from the peer review, staff concluded that the applicant had not shown that the proposed urban boundary expansion is financially viable (i.e., the proposal will negatively affect the City’s fiscal position).” https://pub-hamilton.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=457526

On June 25, 2025, Staff recommended that Urban Hamilton Official Plan Amendment Application UHOPA-25-007 by Bousfields Inc., on behalf of the Elfrida Community Builders Group Inc be DENIED for several reasons outlined in the Staff report. Council voted unanimously in favour of the Staff recommendation for denial. https://pub-hamilton.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=457526

Through zoning changes that now allow many more types of housing beyond single family homes, staff have confirmed that Hamilton can meet its housing targets by adding much more densification within the current urban boundary, eliminating the need for more land. https://www.hamilton.ca/build-invest-grow/planning-development/zoning/residential-zones-project

The City of Hamilton exceeded its 80% Residential Intensification Target in 2023 with an intensification rate of 90%. Hamiltonians embrace a growth strategy of infill housing and densification within existing neighbourhoods, near transit, jobs and amenities. https://pub-hamilton.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=425614

Based on current data and approved levels of service, the City of Hamilton faces a 10- year Infrastructure Funding Gap of $5.2 billion. Adding more sprawl infrastructure on distant farm fields away from transit, jobs and amenities will only worsen that burden. https://pub-hamilton.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=455835

 A mail-out survey was distributed to households in Hamilton in late June/early July 2021 to ask for opinions about how the City of Hamilton should grow to the year 2051. An absolutely unprecedented total of 18,387 survey responses were submitted to the City through mail and email up to the survey deadline of July 23, 2021. Option 2 “No Urban Boundary Expansion” was the clear choice of Hamiltonians with 16,636 or 90.4% or responses. https://www.hamilton.ca/build-invest-grow/planning-development/growth-planning-grids/grids-2mcr-urban-growth-survey

Urban expansion would destroy thousands of acres of prime one farmland and be detrimental to our food security, climate change reduction and mitigation goals, urban forest strategy, wetland protection goals, affordable housing strategy, and jeopardize Light Rail Transit success by directing growth far away from the proposed LRT line.