City Planning
The City is responsible for guiding future growth and change through Design Regina: The Official Community Plan and regulating development through the Regina Zoning Bylaw and the Subdivision Bylaw. Design Regina is a comprehensive policy framework to guide the physical, environmental, economic, social and cultural development of the city. The goals and policies in Design Regina aim to create a sustainable city where social, environmental and economic concerns are addressed.
Design Regina is comprised of two parts. Part A is a citywide policy plan and Part B is a collection of Secondary Plans for specific areas of the city. Secondary Plans for residential neighbourhoods are called Neighbourhood Plans.
- Part B.1 – Northeast Area Neighbourhood Plan
- Part B.2 – Inner City Neighbourhood Plan
- Part B.3 – Transitional Area Neighbourhood Plan
- Part B.4 – Regina Downtown Neighbourhood Plan
- Part B.5 – Eastview Neighbourhood Plan
- Part B.6 – Cathedral Area Neighbourhood Plan
- Part B.7 – North Central Neighbourhood Plan
- Part B.8 – Core Area Neighbourhood Plan
- Part B.9 – Fleet Street Business Park Secondary Plan
- Part B.10 – Former Diocese of Qu’Appelle Neighbourhood Plan
- Part B.11 – Lakeview/Albert Park Neighbourhood Plan
- Part B.12 – General Hospital Area Neighbourhood Plan
- Part B.13 – Warehouse District Neighbourhood Plan
- Part B.14 - Westerra Neighbourhood Plan
- Part B.15 - Tower Crossing Secondary Plan
- Part B.16 - Southeast Regina Neighbourhood Plan
- Part B.17 - Coopertown Neighbourhood Plan
- Part B.18 - Yards Neighbourhood Plan
Concept plans give direction for land use as outlined in the secondary plan for the area.
Neighbourhood plans provide high-level policy direction for the long-term growth, development and servicing of a particular area.
Where a neighbourhood plan applies to a proposed new residential or commercial area, it sets the stage for more detailed planning such as concept plans and rezoning.
There are currently no neighbourhood plans under review or being considered by the Regina Planning Commission, City Council or Province of Saskatchewan.
Concept plans illustrate, for proposed new development areas, the specific location of land-uses, streets and open space.
Concept plans generally apply to smaller site areas, such as development phases within an overarching neighbourhood plan area or infill or redevelopment site, and set the stage for more detailed planning: rezoning and subdivision.
- New Residential Neighbourhood - Harbour Landing North (Formerly Beaucorp Lands)
- Application is still under review
- Application is tentatively scheduled for consideration by the Regina Planning Commission and City Council in summer 2021. If you would like to be notified of these meetings, contact the project planner (see document above with contact information).
- Only the land-use plan and circulation plan are subject to Council approval.
- Proposed Concept Plan Report
Proposed Development
The City of Regina is constantly reviewing a variety of developments. View the of applications for development that may be happening in your neighbourhood that require public notice.
Regional Planning
The City works closely with the Rural Municipality of Sherwood and the Global Transportation Hub Authority to ensure orderly land use development within the Joint Planning Area. Regina is a culturally diverse region and the City strives to strengthen our relationships and developments with neighbouring Treaty Four First Nations. We actively participate in regional initiatives through the Moose Jaw Regina Industrial Corridor Inc. and the White Butte Regional Planning Committee. These groups coordinate planning efforts in the region and explore opportunities for the mutual benefit of all participating municipalities.
Growth & Intensification
Design Regina seeks to ensure that growth is orderly and controlled and that neighbourhoods, as well as the city's corridors and centres, are strengthened. Regina's Growth Plan Map shows where growth is planned, including new neighbourhoods and areas of intensification in existing neighbourhoods. The growth of our city is important to accommodate a projected population of 300,000.
The City of Regina monitors growth and development to help inform policy and planning decisions. View the status of development in new neighbourhoods updated January 1, 2021.
To accommodate long-term growth, it is sometimes necessary for the City of Regina to expand its municipal boundaries through a process of annexation. The Historic Boundary Alteration Map shows how Regina has expanded over time.
The Official Community Plan directs that 30 per cent of Regina’s growth over the next 25 years to occur within its existing built boundaries as intensification. Intensification is the construction of new buildings or additions to existing buildings within established built-up areas of Regina, such as:
- Development on vacant land
- Additions to existing dwellings
- Redevelopment of existing dwellings or sites into new uses
The phrase ‘infill development’ is sometimes used interchangeably with ‘intensification’. While they are related, they are a bit different. Infill is generally any development that occurs within existing areas, while intensification results in more residential units or an increase in area of commercial, institutional or office resulting from the new development.
For example: if you demolished one single family dwelling within an established area and replaced it with another single family dwelling it would be considered infill. If you replaced it with a fourplex it would be considered an infill project that results in intensification as there are more units than there were originally.
Intensification is important as it supports sustainability in our community by:
- Maximizing use of existing infrastructure, including pipes, roads and parks.
- Supporting use of existing facilities, services and amenities, such as fire stations, libraries, recreation and schools.
- Fostering access to more and better options for moving around our community.
- Providing opportunity to integrate housing options for people of all ages and stages of life into our established neighbourhoods.
- Revitalizing neighbourhoods.
Learn more about the Downtown Serviceability Study, Transportation Master Plan, Downtown Neighbourhood Plan and Comprehensive Housing Strategy.
Downtown Serviceability Study
- This study assessed the capacity of the water, wastewater and storm water systems in the City’s downtown and determined how the systems could accommodate the addition of 5,000 residents, all in conformance with the current Regina Downtown Neighbourhood Plan.
Transportation Master Plan (TMP)
- This comprehensive, multi-modal transportation policy and planning document is shaping Regina’s transportation system for the next 25 years to support the mobility needs of its residents, businesses and visitors.
- The TMP helps support intensification through policies that would see the City elevate the role of transit by focusing intensification and higher order transit along urban corridors.
Downtown Neighbourhood Plan
- This plan was developed to effectively guide future growth and strategic investment into infrastructure, development and urban design for the next 20 years.
Comprehensive Housing Strategy
- The strategy seeks to align programs and assets with current and future housing needs, to coordinate with the new policies and programs of the Province of Saskatchewan and to determine where the best areas are to stimulate and regulate the housing market.
- This strategy informs other programs, such as the Housing Incentives Program.
- The Study looks at regulatory, environmental, social and economic barriers to private sector redevelopment of various types of underutilized sites throughout Regina.
- The Study recommends specific actions the City can take to improve the viability of redeveloping these lands, including improvements to existing regulatory processes and financial incentives.
- An Underutilized Land Improvement Strategy has been developed using the Study as a key input. The Strategy includes actions to be implemented over the short, medium and long-term.
Learn more about Infill Housing Guidelines, Laneway and Garden Suite Pilot Project, Neighbourhood and Corridor Sequencing Plan, Regina Revitalization Initiative, Zone Forward, Underutilized Land Study, and the Water and Wastewater Master Plans.
- City Administration is reviewing the infill guidelines report developed by a consultant to ensure that future regulations on infill development provide a diversity of housing options while meeting the needs of the community.
Backyard Suites
- Backyard suites are becoming an increasingly popular option for housing that has several benefits, including increased housing options, opportunities to age in place, share housing among family members, gain rental income, making efficient use of infrastructure, increasing safety in back alleys, and bringing more customers near businesses.
- In the last decade, the City of Regina has explored Backyard Suites through three pilot projects, which saw 28 Backyard Suites built throughout the city in new and established neighbourhoods.
- The City is now working on guidelines and regulations to allow Backyard Suites in new and established neighbourhoods.
- A recommendation report will go to City Council for consideration in spring 2022.
Neighbourhood and Corridor Plans
- Neighbourhood and Corridor Plans are land use plans that provide specific land use, urban design and infrastructure investment policies consistent with the OCP for a defined geographic area within the city.
- Several Neighbourhood Plans need to be updated while other areas of the city do not yet have a neighbourhood plan. This initiative will determine the order for developing plans to address local needs and opportunities for intensification.
- The Planning Department will start preparing new plans for existing neighbourhoods and corridors which will include identifying specific sites that are suitable for intensification.
- Once approved, these plans will provide greater certainty to residents and local developers on where and how intensification will occur.
Regina Revitalization Initiative
- Redevelopment of the former railyards and Taylor Field site represents a once in a lifetime opportunity to bring thousands of new residents to the City’s core which would drastically increase the intensification rate.
Water and Wastewater Master Plans
- The Water and Wastewater Master Plans will guide investment in these two major infrastructure systems to support growth in new areas as well as development within the city.
Underutilized Land Improvement Strategy
As of December 31, 2020, 87 per cent of immediate actions and 82 per cent of short-term actions from the Strategy were either completed or initiated. Some highlights include:
- A new Zoning Bylaw was approved in December 2019, which set the conditions for achieving intensification on development sites and flexibility in land use and development options.
- In January 2020, a comprehensive update to the Housing Incentive Policy was approved, which provides further incentives for intensified development in strategic areas such as the North-Central and Heritage Neighbourhoods.
- A Building Permit and Inspections Review was completed in 2020 which set permit processing targets of 10 and 20 business days for residential and commercial permits, respectively. With targets for permit application times in place, the City can build off these and explore ways to set targets and streamline processes specifically for redevelopment and infill projects. In 2020, the City averaged:
- 8.1 business days to issue a permit or provide comments on a residential application
- 14.6 business days to issue a permit or provide comments on a commercial application
- New planning & building software was introduced in 2020, which is currently being developed to include a customer portal, titled ‘eBuild,’ allowing applicants to submit and track applications online. With the software in place, ways to leverage the capabilities of the new software to improve the permitting process for infill and redevelopment permits can be explored.
