Ville de Laval’s Urban Planning Code (UPC), an innovation in Canada

L’Atelier Urbain is proud to announce that the Code de l’urbanisme de la Ville de Laval (CDU) was adopted by City Council on July 12, 2022, after 4 years of intensive work by our team and that of Ville de Laval. This is a flagship project for the firm, for Quebec and for Canada.

Following the elaboration of a new development vision and the revision of its Schéma d’aménagement et de développement (SADR), Ville de Laval wanted to equip itself with bylaws adapted to the local context and reflecting the expectations of citizens and municipal stakeholders. L’Atelier Urbain (in collaboration with the American firm DPZ) provided an interdisciplinary team with an innovative approach and a mastery of new trends in urban planning and regulations, who were able to develop regulations to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow.

The CDU is one of the first regulations in Quebec to be based on a form-based code approach. With the CDU, the City of Laval is also the first city in Canada to implement a form-based code for its entire territory.

Listen to Marina Khouri from DPZ explain the founding principles of form-based Code

As the CDU’s mandate was to revise all the urban planning bylaws dating back to the 1970s, it was important to adapt the regulatory standards in line with the evolving reality of the territory and its population. In order to draft innovative urban planning bylaws that take into account current and future issues related to land use planning, L’Atelier Urbain carried out some twenty studies highlighting best practices in relation to various themes, such as climate change, parking and mobility, the environment, development and redevelopment sectors and many others.

In addition, to ensure the buy-in of CDU citizens, municipal representatives and stakeholders, L’Atelier Urbain organized several participatory process events such as integrated design sessions, charrettes and public consultations.

Our mastery of the form-based code approach enabled us to adapt it to the local environment, making the CDU a regulation unique to the Laval area. Atelier Urbain is now a Quebec benchmark in the field. Don’t hesitate to contact us to find out more!