County of Brant Council heard about a new strategy to make Cainsville a premier employment hub during the regular Council meeting on Tuesday, June 9, 2026.
The County first began developing the Comprehensive Land Use Strategy for the premier employment hub in May 2025.
“The project launched just over a year ago, and we’ve been undertaking extensive community and stakeholder engagement with respect to this project,” said Brandon Kortleve, Manager of Policy Planning. “We’ve done some one-on-one meetings with residents and landowners, we’ve had discussions with community groups, we’ve had some discussions with staff from Six Nations of the Grand River, we’ve done an online survey, and we did public workshops in September of last year, so tonight’s presentation reflects a final draft of the strategy and the culmination of this of feedback process.”
Michelle Diplock, a Registered Professional Planner with Nethery Planning, said the strategy aims to help guide future growth and investment in Cainsville by attracting new business while supporting long-term growth.
“Part of the impetus for this project is the extension of full municipal services proposed to the Cainsville settlement area, and with that comes the opportunity to shape development,” she said. “The purpose of the strategy will be to direct the long-term land use infrastructure and economic development decisions within the Cainsville area, and outline development locations, uses, and needs for a connected employment area, as well as outlining our implementation tools for this project.”
Located in the east of Brantford near Highway 403, Cainsville currently contains some of the municipality’s largest employment lands, consisting of commercial, rural residential and large, undeveloped parcels of land. The area is influenced by the Grand River and Fairchild Creek and benefits from strong regional connectivity and access to major transportation routes.
As far as key factors involved in shaping the strategy, the planner said development within Cainsville has historically been constrained by servicing capacity, environmental features, rail corridor barriers and nearby sensitive residential uses.
“That said, there are significant opportunities, especially with the expansion of servicing to the community, as well as large greenfield parcels, highway access, transit potential, as well as an integrated natural heritage and trail system,” said Diplock. “The direction we have been given for this project is that it is employment-first growth, attracting higher-value sectors, as well as providing for strong design identity and phased servicing.”
The plan seeks to increase employment density from 15 to 30 jobs per hectare by establishing a safe and walkable village centre, adding new parks, improved streetscapes and an interconnected trail network to link neighbourhoods with natural areas and employment lands.
Guiding principles that will be used to inform future design directions include employment and commercial areas, natural heritage, public space, multimodal transportation, as well as gateways, infrastructure and sustainability and an Indigenous place-keeping strategy.
Ideas include creating a commercial area that will provide daily needs like retail and services for residents and the local workforce without having to leave the area. The plan is to focus on high-density, high-value employment sectors with a mix of large campus-style development and smaller multi-tenant light industrial uses near the core.
Diplock also spoke about protecting natural heritage systems, creating two new parks for public space, and building a safe, connected network for trucks, cars, cyclists, pedestrians and transit with wayfinding and cultural interpretation signage.
The strategy would be implemented through an Official Plan Amendment and a specific Cainsville Area Overlay in the Community Planning Permit System (CPPS). The overlay would establish conditions for development and would limit mixed-use development to small-mid scale and restrict residential development designated community corridors or low-density neighbourhood areas.
As far as how the upgrade to the area will play out, Diplock explained that the next steps involved a coordinated, phased approach to planning and infrastructure delivery.
“The strategy, the Official Plan Amendment, and the CPPS guide the land uses, servicing, and natural areas, as well as the design of buildings in the streets,” she said. “After the Official Plan approval, the focus shifts to building the needed infrastructure, and roads, water, and wastewater upgrades, stormwater systems, and trails must be built in the right order as development happens.”
Following Diplock’s presentation, residents took the opportunity to ask questions about their involvement with consultation, how the strategy will unfold, compatibility, studies and express concerns surrounding an influx of traffic and noise, demolishing buildings, and servicing.
Mike Bekendam, who owns several properties along Colborne Street east, also asked about zoning.
“In principle, I’m really excited to see that we’re talking about Cainsville. I grew up on Jerseyville Road, and this neighbourhood has been my home since I was a child, and I’ve always seen potential here, so I’m really excited that we’re now talking about doing this,” he said. “In the Official Master Plan, that stretch along Colborne and some along Brant School Road was all a neighbourhood node. It’s my understanding that it was a fairly broad zoning that could accommodate mixed-use residential, small commercial, and had a lot of different applications there.”
Bekendam said that in his experience, nobody has come knocking on his door looking to buy his property, stating that it doesn’t seem like anyone is talking about developing the area yet.
“Nothing’s actually happening there yet so, I just don’t see the benefit of changing all that zoning and limiting it to mixed-use commercial when mixed-use commercial, small scale commercial, was already allowed there,” he continued. “I just don’t see the benefit at this stage of the game to limit it, …and I would just like to leave the flexibility for the creativity of whatever entrepreneurs or visionaries come and want to do something in this area.”
Kortleve explained that the reason for the zone changes is essentially to restrict the amount of residential that is allowed in the area.
Jim Bray, who sells trailers on Colborne Street East, asked how the proposed employment zoning would affect the property if he ever decided to sell.
“I have an automotive dealership, I sell trailers, but I have an automotive dealership. Now, the mixed-use commercial is across the street and right next door, but they’ve got me zoned here as an employment area,” he said. “Could I sell that property to somebody who wants to still have an automotive dealership there?”
Kortleve confirmed that Bray could continue his operation especially as it is well established. He also said that if someone were to buy the property they could continue with the trailer business, but that if the plan was to use it for a different commercial use, “then we would have some questions about that.”
After the public meeting, councillors had the opportunities to ask their own questions.
Councillor Ella Haley said she was particularly concerned about existing residents in the area and asked for buffers to be put in place for them.
She also brought up Cainsville’s Black history, consulting with First Nations about the employee uses and trail users having the chance to provide comments.
Haley’s wardmate, Brian Coleman, said the project looked great, but wasn’t sure if it was the right fit for Cainsville.
“I think there’s aspects of it we can use for Cainsville, so if you can take a little bit from here and a little bit from there, you could maybe make it work,” he said.
Coleman also said he had concerns about the zoning, how it will affect businesses in the area and the spur line.
“We have a spur line and it’s connected to an awful lot of industry right now, and I don’t see that industry moving so we can move other things in there that are compatible,” he said. “I really have a problem with the change in the zoning on some of this mixed-use. What is wrong with what they’ve already got there presently?”
Coleman asked that more studies be done before anything happens, and encouraged staff to listen to area residents and their concerns about moving traffic in particular.
Councillor David Miller also asked how much the overall plan would end up costing the County.
Jeremy Vink, the County’s Director of Planning, said that there will be initial up front costs to extend municipal services. However, he noted that the strategy is conceptual in nature, and outlines how the area could develop over time. He added that everything else will be spread out over time and will be done as needed.
“So we’ve got some initial upfront costs, but the others will be spread out over time, and then hopefully the industrial will help pay for it,” said Miller.
Following a lengthy discussion, Council received the draft strategy as information only, and sent it back to staff for consideration in preparing the final strategy.
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
