Statutory Notices

Notices issued by the Clerk’s Department are available below. Planning related notices are posted on the Public Meeting page under the ‘Planning’ section of the County’s website.

Notice of Adoption of an Official Plan Amendment

For Settlement Area Boundary Expansion for the Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury Relating to the Settlement of Bradford within the County of Simcoe Official Plan

TAKE NOTICE that the Corporation of the County of Simcoe enacted By-law No. 7164-26 to adopt Official Plan Amendment No. 10 to the Official Plan for the County of Simcoe on the 10^th of February, 2026, pursuant to Section 17 and 21 of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended.

Official Plan Amendment No. 10 (County File: SC-OPA-1701) applies to lands identified by the key map included with this notice.

THE PURPOSE and EFFECT of the amendment is to amend the County of Simcoe Official Plan Land Use Schedule 5.1 to incorporate the subject lands into the settlement area of Bradford in the Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury for the purpose of a settlement area boundary expansion. The effect of the County amendment would enable the consideration of a Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury Official Plan Amendment to redesignate the lands in the Town’s Official Plan for urban residential uses, community uses such as a school, commercial, and parkland.

PRIOR TO adoption of Official Plan Amendment No. 10, a statutory public meeting was held on September 23, 2025 to receive public input on the proposed official plan amendment in accordance with Section 17(15) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990. With the adoption of Recommendation CCW-32-26 of the Committee of the Whole, Council deems it expedient to adopt Official Plan Amendment No. 10 to the County of Simcoe Official Plan.

PUBLIC INPUT in the form of oral submissions were received at the Public Meeting. Written submissions were received in advance and following the public meeting. The effect of these comments are detailed in the associated staff report (CCW 2026-027). The County is satisfied that these comments were considered prior to adoption of Official Plan Amendment No. 10.

THE OFFICIAL PLAN AMENDMENT and background materials are available for viewing on the County of Simcoe website at: https://www.simcoe.ca/Planning/Pages/amendments_and_current_applications.aspx

ANY PERSON OR PUBLIC BODY will be entitled to receive a Notice of Decision of the Approval Authority, being the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, if a written request to be notified of the Decision is made to:

Tammy Chung, MCIP, RPP
Manager (A) – Community Planning & Development
Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing
Municipal Services Office (Central – North) Ontario
777 Bay Street, 16th Floor,
Toronto, ON M7A 2J3
Tammy.Chung@ontario.ca

DATED at Midhurst this 25th day of February, 2026.

Jonathan Magill, County Clerk
County of Simcoe Administration Centre
1110 Highway 26, Midhurst, ON L9X 1N6
(705) 726-9300 Ext. 1202 – Fax (705) 725-1285
Jonathan.Magill@simcoe.ca

Key Map

Reference Documents

By-law No. 7164-26 OPA 10

Notice of Statutory Public Meeting Concerning Proposed Municipal Boundary Adjustments

TAKE NOTICE that the Council of the County of Simcoe will hold an in-person and electronic Public Meeting to discuss proposed municipal boundary adjustments (Restructuring Proposals) by the City of Barrie affecting the upper-tier boundary of the County in the Township of Oro-Medonte and Township of Springwater. This Notice and Public Meeting comply with the requirements of Section 173(3) of the Municipal Act, 2001.

The County of Simcoe (County), the Township of Oro-Medonte (Oro-Medonte), the Township of Springwater (Springwater) and the City of Barrie (Barrie) have been engaged in facilitated discussions regarding proposed boundary adjustments. To support this effort, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing tasked the Office of the Provincial Land and Development Facilitator to assist with discussions to ensure alignment with Provincial priorities including the creation of housing and employment opportunities. The facilitation process commenced in the Spring of 2024 and has entailed discussion amongst municipal leadership at Barrie, Oro-Medonte, Springwater, and the County. The process has resulted in technical studies conducted by consultant experts including assessment of the need for additional residential and employment lands in areas adjacent to Barrie, Oro-Medonte and Springwater.

Throughout 2025, further studies have been completed. Studies included urban expansion land delineation, environmental mapping and constraint analysis, and infrastructure servicing needs including costs. These recent studies and technical memorandums, including the Joint Lands Needs Assessment and an update from the Office of the Provincial Land and Development Facilitator were publicly released on Wednesday September 24, 2025. Draft Restructuring Proposals (including mapping) between Oro-Medonte and Barrie, and Springwater and Barrie, have been released. Barrie approved the Restructuring Proposals at its October 1, 2025 meeting and the Proposals have been sent to the other municipalities for consideration. Both Restructuring Proposals affect the upper-tier municipal boundary of the County of Simcoe.

THE PURPOSE of the Public Meeting is an opportunity for the public to review and provide comments on the proposed municipal boundary adjustments (Restructuring Proposals) initiated by the City of Barrie.

THE PUBLIC MEETING will be held on October 14, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. in the Council Chamber at the Simcoe County Administration Centre located at 1110 Highway 26, Midhurst, Ontario L9X 1N6. The agenda for the Public Meeting will be posted on the County’s website (https://simcoe.civicweb.net/Portal/) a minimum of 5 days prior to the meeting and will include the Restructuring Proposals. As this meeting is for the purposes of receiving feedback from the public on the Proposals, no decisions will be made by Council at the meeting.

FOLLOWING THE PUBLIC MEETING the Restructuring Proposals will be considered by County Council at a subsequent meeting. If the municipal Restructuring Proposals achieve the municipal support necessary, they will be provided to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for consideration.

ANY PERSON MAY PARTICIPATE in this process by either registering to speak in-person or electronically (via Zoom) at the Public Meeting or by providing written comments. To register to speak or provide written comments, please email clerks@simcoe.ca. Requests to speak and written comments must be received no later than 12:00 p.m. on October 10, 2025, the business day prior to the Public Meeting. Those who register to speak will have five (5) minutes for comments during the meeting. Individuals that do not register in advance will not have an opportunity to speak. Please note that the name of individuals registered to speak and a copy of written comments will form part of the public record and be included on the agenda for the Public Meeting.

Background information – September 2025

Bill 111
Passed as a By-law by City of Barrie Council on October 1, 2025

Draft Restructuring Proposal – City of Barrie and Township of Oro-Medonte
Approved by City of Barrie October 1, 2025

Draft Restructuring Proposal – City of Barrie and Township of Springwater
Approved by City of Barrie October 1, 2025

Letter of Commitment dated September 29, 2025 from City of Barrie to County of Simcoe
Approved by City of Barrie October 1, 2025

Office of the Provincial Land and Development Facilitator Update Memo
September 24, 2025

Joint Land Needs Analysis and Study – Stage 3 – Hemson Consulting

Preliminary Natural Heritage Constraints Assessment for Barrie Land Needs Assessment

Joint Land Needs Analysis and Study – Stage 3 Engineering Analysis

Warden Basil Clarke’s Statement Regarding Annexation
September 25, 2025

For additional information regarding the facilitated process and associated technical reports that have been previously completed, as well as information on each municipality’s public process, please visit:

City of Barrie Website

Township of Oro-Medonte Website

Township of Springwater Website

County Council Composition and Head of Council

Please be advised at its meeting held April 22, 2025, Council of the County of Simcoe enacted By-law 7119-25, being a By-law to change the composition of the Council of the Corporation of the County of Simcoe, pursuant to Section 218 of the Municipal Act, 2001.

Currently, County Council is comprised of 32 Members including the Mayors and Deputy Mayors of each of the County’s lower-tier municipalities. The By-law will reduce the size of County Council to a 17 Member Council that would include only the Mayors of the 16 lower-tier municipalities and a Head of Council. The Head of Council is currently appointed from among Members of Council and therefore serves both on County Council and a lower-tier Council. The By-law will establish a Head of Council that serves exclusively on County Council for a four-year term. The position will be appointed by County Council from among eligible electors who put their name forward. The By-law also includes required updates to the existing weighted vote system, which allocates the existing number of votes for each municipality to the one representative.

The passing of the By-law by County Council on April 22, 2025, fulfills the first step in the “Triple Majority” process outlined in Section 219 of the Municipal Act, 2001, which is that a majority of votes on County Council be cast in favour. A By-law to change the composition of an upper-tier Council is not valid until it achieves “Triple Majority” which is prescribed as:

a majority of votes on County Council in favour; and
a majority of lower-tier councils passing resolutions consenting to the by-law; and
the lower-tier councils consenting to the by-law represent a majority of all electors in the upper-tier municipality.

To fulfill the remaining steps, on April 24, 2025, a letter was sent by the County Clerk to the Council of each lower-tier member municipality requesting them to consider passing a resolution consenting to County By-law 7119-25. A response from each Council was requested by June 30, 2025. Responses from all member municipalities were received.

Each condition of triple majority must be met for the By-law to be considered valid. All three conditions have not been met as outlined in Staff Report CO 2025-203 (linked below) dated August 12, 2025. Section 7.4 of the By-law states that if the triple majority conditions necessary to consider the By-law valid are not met by January 1, 2026, the By-law shall be repealed in its entirety on that date. The By-law is currently set to self-repeal on January 1, 2026 and not come into force for the next term of Council. County Council’s current composition of 32 members and a Warden elected from within would remain unchanged.