Official Community Plan & Transportation Plan Update

Official Community Plan - moving forward

On November 24, 2025, the public hearing for Official Community Plan Bylaw 6200, 2025 was held in Council Chambers. More than seventy community members were in attendance, with nearly two dozen voicing their feedback on the document. Following the public hearing, Council gave third reading to the bylaw. Final adoption is anticipated for December 15, in order to meet the required December 31, 2025, deadline.

• Read the Official Community Plan Bylaw 6200, 2025
• Watch the public hearing recording

Official Community Plan – public hearing

The Official Community Plan public hearing has been changed to November 24, 2025, at 5:30 pm in Council Chambers located at 3400 – 30 St, and you are invited to attend! If you have written comments, concerns, or support you would like to share in advance of the public hearing, you can send them via email to [email protected], or drop them off at City Hall. For more information on public hearings, visit Public Hearings | City of Vernon.

• Read the Official Community Plan Bylaw 6200, 2025
• Read the full Council report (Item 10.a)

If you’ve got questions or feedback for the project team, we are listening at [email protected].

Official Community Plan – moving forward
On October 14, 2025, Council gave first and second reading to the new Official Community Plan (OCP) Bylaw 6200, 2025. This is the first step in formal adoption of the Official Community Plan Bylaw, and a major milestone for the project. The OCP was then referred to the Agricultural Land Commission for comment, the Regional District of the North Okanagan for acceptance of the Regional Context Statement, and the Okanagan Indian Band for information.

• Read the Official Community Plan Bylaw 6200, 2025
• Read the full Council report (Item 10.a)

A public hearing is scheduled for November 10, 2025, at 5:30 pm in Council Chambers located at 3400 – 30 St, and you are invited to attend! If you have written comments, concerns, or support you would like to share in advance of the public hearing, you can send them via email to [email protected], or drop them off at City Hall. For more information on public hearings, visit Public Hearings | City of Vernon.

If you’ve got questions or feedback for the project team, we are listening at [email protected].

Draft OCP presented

Staff presented the Draft Official Community Plan (OCP) to Council for initial consideration, marking the first major update since the current plan was adopted in 2013. To help illustrate the direction of the new plan, the Council Report highlights five Big Moves—offering a clear summary of key themes and changes.

These five big moves include: focusing development within a new Urban Containment Boundary and Transit-Oriented Areas, expanding affordable, inclusive and diverse housing options, integration of the 2021 Climate Action Plan, improving public access to parks and waterfronts, and enhancing environmental protection through updated mapping and development guidelines.

The next steps for the OCP Bylaw is first reading on October 14, 2025, followed by a Public Hearing on November 10, with adoption targeted for December 15 to meet the December 31, 2025 deadline.

Read the full report.

City Staff are pleased to present you with the draft Official Community Plan and Transportation Plan!

How to get involved:

• Review the draft Official Community Plan and provide feedback by July 21
• Review the draft Transportation Plan and provide feedback by July 23

Provide your feedback on the draft plans and help shape Vernon’s future.

Phase 3 of the Official Community Plan and Transportation Plan is now open!
From May 26 to June 30, the City of Vernon is inviting you to share your feedback on how our community should grow and move over the next 20 years.

Join us in person:
🗓️ June 5: 2 pm - 6 pm
🗓️ June 7: 9 am - 2 pm
📍 Civic Memorial Community Classroom, 3003 37th Avenue

Drop by to learn more and have your say.

Prefer online? Complete the survey and help shape Vernon’s future.

Thank you for participating in Phases 1 and 2 of the community engagement process for Vernon's Official Community Plan (OCP) and Transportation Plan (TP). Your feedback, gathered through surveys, open houses, and workshops, has been valuable in shaping the direction of these plans.

Over the past year, residents have shared their thoughts on how Vernon could grow in the coming years. Participants identified challenges, highlighted successes, and provided ideas for future improvements. This input, combined with technical studies, is guiding the development of policies that will influence how land is used, how people move through the community, and how services are delivered.

City staff are currently drafting the OCP and TP. These documents will be available for review later this spring during Phase 3 of public input.

Here is the full Phase 2 Engagement What We Learned Report.

We look forward to connecting with you in the next phase of engagement as we work together to shape the future of Vernon!

We are midway through the review and update of the Official Community Plan and Transportation Plan! Phase 1 and 2 of public engagement are complete. Thank you to everyone who participated and provided feedback.

The team is now shifting focus to the drafting both of these documents including mapping and project lists. Phase 3 of public engagement will be launched later in the spring of 2025 for the draft documents to receive public feedback. Council has endorsed increasing public engagement and advertising from the original engagement strategy. To stay informed when this launches, sign up to the mailing list by entering your email under "Stay Informed" and then click "subscribe".

The survey is now closed. Thank you to those of you who participated in the survey and attended the open house. The results of Phase 2 engagement will be added here once they are available.

The technical studies currently underway are expected to be completed by the end of the year. After the final reports are received, they will be presented to Council and then made available on the Engage Vernon website.

To be added to the mailing list for updates, please enter your email under "Stay Informed" and click "subscribe".

The survey is now live! Be sure to share your thoughts on how you want Vernon to grow as we welcome new neighbours into our community.

This morning, our OCP & TP team met with Council to share updates on several important projects. We presented findings from the Housing Needs Report, which highlighted the types of housing we need to invest in for different income levels over the next 5, 10, and 20 years. We also reviewed our Land Inventory, which gave an overview of the land available to meet these housing needs. The Growth Strategy explored different growth scenario options for Vernon and how to align them with the Housing Needs Report and Land Inventory analysis. Here is a link to the Council Report, full video and presentation from this session.

We also provided updates on the Transportation Plan, focusing on how we prioritize roads and connections to improve mobility. Council participated in an interactive activity exploring the elements that make up our streetscape—this same exercise will be available at our Open House, so feel free to stop by and give it a try!

We invite you to join us at the Open House on November 7th at the Vernon Library from 1:00 pm to 8:00 pm. We look forward to seeing you there!