Bayfield Street Community Design Plan

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The City is preparing a Community Design Plan (CDP) to guide the evolution of the Bayfield Street corridor towards a mixed-use regional thoroughfare and a complete neighbourhood in itself. The Bayfield Street Community Design Plan will occur in multiple phases, with community and stakeholder engagement activities planned throughout the project.

About the Bayfield Street Community Design Plan:

The Bayfield Street CDP is a community planning and design exercise that will create a community vision and development framework to guide the future growth and redevelopment anticipated along the Bayfield Street corridor (from Sophia Street to the northern City limit).

Plan Goals:

The overarching objectives are to foster sustainable growth and development which implements the policies and guidelines of the City's Official Plan 2051, at a neighbourhood and corridor scale.

General Community Design Plan goals include:

  • Enhance livability
  • Foster economic growth and development
  • Enhance transportation and connectivity
  • Strengthen community identity
  • Ensure safety and resilience
  • Protect the environment
  • Promote inclusivity and equity
  • Promote sustainable development

Specific objectives for Bayfield Street include:

  • Integration of transportation planning, land use planning, and community design
  • Enhancing Bayfield Street’s identity as a regional commercial centre
  • Establishing a clear vision and flexible development framework for mixed-use redevelopment of the various property and built form conditions found along the corridor
  • Ensuring adequate and accessible community services and amenities

Phase One: Commercial Market Study

(March to June 2025)

  • The City and its consultants conducted stakeholder interviews with select landowners along the Bayfield Street corridor.
  • The purpose of the study was to consider how commercial uses may be maintained and enhanced along the corridor over the long term as the city continues to grow and intensify.
  • This study looked at how much commercial (retail and service) space will be needed in the future as the city grows. It also explored how this car-focused corridor could evolve into a more walkable, mixed-use area with housing, shopping, and services all within easy reach.
  • Insights from the Commercial Market Study will support the Bayfield Street Improvements Environmental Assessment (EA).

Key findings of the Commercial Market Study:

  • Most of Bayfield Street is still built for cars, not for transit, pedestrians, or cyclists.
  • Parking needs and existing leases make it hard for some businesses to adapt.
  • Buildings with shops on the ground floor are more expensive to build and harder to rent.
  • Large properties with big parking lots could be gradually transformed into mixed-use spaces—with shops and services on the ground floor and housing above, or, with different uses in separate buildings located on the same site. This would help create a more walkable, connected, and vibrant community while keeping Bayfield a key shopping destination.

Growth is coming:

  • By 2051, the number of people living in Barrie and nearby areas is expected to grow by over 140,000 people.
  • These new residents will need more places to shop, eat, and access services.

Commercial space needs:

  • The Bayfield Corridor may need up to 1.2 million sq. ft. of new commercial space by 2051.

Future demands for food retail, non-food retail, and services:

  • Food retail (grocery stores, restaurants, etc.): 173,000 sq. ft.
  • Non-food retail (clothing, electronics, etc.): 633,000 sq. ft.
  • Services (fitness, salons, health clinics, etc.): 381,000 sq. ft.

The Commercial Market Study includes the following recommendations, to be further explored through the next phase of the project:

  • Keeping a mix of big stores, smaller shops, and services.
  • Allowing both single-use and mixed-use buildings, depending on what makes sense for each site.
  • Considering specific incentives or support to help make mixed-use developments financially viable.

See the full results of the Commercial Market Study.

Phase Two: Community Design Plan

(August 2025 to July 2026)

The second phase of the project will envision what the corridor could look like in the future. This work includes several engagement points with interest holders and the public, and will occur in several stages:

  • Stage 1: Background & Baseline Report
  • Stage 2: Visioning
  • Stage 3: Concept Development
  • Stage 4–6: Plan Drafting, Review, and Adoption


Get involved: Next steps

As the City plans for the future of the Bayfield Corridor, we want to hear from the people who live, work, shop, and travel here. Your feedback will help shape how this area grows—balancing change with what already works.

Stay tuned for engagement opportunities in Phase 2, which will be posted to this webpage when available.

The Bayfield Street Community Design Plan is anticipated to be completed in summer 2026.



The City is preparing a Community Design Plan (CDP) to guide the evolution of the Bayfield Street corridor towards a mixed-use regional thoroughfare and a complete neighbourhood in itself. The Bayfield Street Community Design Plan will occur in multiple phases, with community and stakeholder engagement activities planned throughout the project.

About the Bayfield Street Community Design Plan:

The Bayfield Street CDP is a community planning and design exercise that will create a community vision and development framework to guide the future growth and redevelopment anticipated along the Bayfield Street corridor (from Sophia Street to the northern City limit).

Plan Goals:

The overarching objectives are to foster sustainable growth and development which implements the policies and guidelines of the City's Official Plan 2051, at a neighbourhood and corridor scale.

General Community Design Plan goals include:

  • Enhance livability
  • Foster economic growth and development
  • Enhance transportation and connectivity
  • Strengthen community identity
  • Ensure safety and resilience
  • Protect the environment
  • Promote inclusivity and equity
  • Promote sustainable development

Specific objectives for Bayfield Street include:

  • Integration of transportation planning, land use planning, and community design
  • Enhancing Bayfield Street’s identity as a regional commercial centre
  • Establishing a clear vision and flexible development framework for mixed-use redevelopment of the various property and built form conditions found along the corridor
  • Ensuring adequate and accessible community services and amenities

Phase One: Commercial Market Study

(March to June 2025)

  • The City and its consultants conducted stakeholder interviews with select landowners along the Bayfield Street corridor.
  • The purpose of the study was to consider how commercial uses may be maintained and enhanced along the corridor over the long term as the city continues to grow and intensify.
  • This study looked at how much commercial (retail and service) space will be needed in the future as the city grows. It also explored how this car-focused corridor could evolve into a more walkable, mixed-use area with housing, shopping, and services all within easy reach.
  • Insights from the Commercial Market Study will support the Bayfield Street Improvements Environmental Assessment (EA).

Key findings of the Commercial Market Study:

  • Most of Bayfield Street is still built for cars, not for transit, pedestrians, or cyclists.
  • Parking needs and existing leases make it hard for some businesses to adapt.
  • Buildings with shops on the ground floor are more expensive to build and harder to rent.
  • Large properties with big parking lots could be gradually transformed into mixed-use spaces—with shops and services on the ground floor and housing above, or, with different uses in separate buildings located on the same site. This would help create a more walkable, connected, and vibrant community while keeping Bayfield a key shopping destination.

Growth is coming:

  • By 2051, the number of people living in Barrie and nearby areas is expected to grow by over 140,000 people.
  • These new residents will need more places to shop, eat, and access services.

Commercial space needs:

  • The Bayfield Corridor may need up to 1.2 million sq. ft. of new commercial space by 2051.

Future demands for food retail, non-food retail, and services:

  • Food retail (grocery stores, restaurants, etc.): 173,000 sq. ft.
  • Non-food retail (clothing, electronics, etc.): 633,000 sq. ft.
  • Services (fitness, salons, health clinics, etc.): 381,000 sq. ft.

The Commercial Market Study includes the following recommendations, to be further explored through the next phase of the project:

  • Keeping a mix of big stores, smaller shops, and services.
  • Allowing both single-use and mixed-use buildings, depending on what makes sense for each site.
  • Considering specific incentives or support to help make mixed-use developments financially viable.

See the full results of the Commercial Market Study.

Phase Two: Community Design Plan

(August 2025 to July 2026)

The second phase of the project will envision what the corridor could look like in the future. This work includes several engagement points with interest holders and the public, and will occur in several stages:

  • Stage 1: Background & Baseline Report
  • Stage 2: Visioning
  • Stage 3: Concept Development
  • Stage 4–6: Plan Drafting, Review, and Adoption


Get involved: Next steps

As the City plans for the future of the Bayfield Corridor, we want to hear from the people who live, work, shop, and travel here. Your feedback will help shape how this area grows—balancing change with what already works.

Stay tuned for engagement opportunities in Phase 2, which will be posted to this webpage when available.

The Bayfield Street Community Design Plan is anticipated to be completed in summer 2026.



Page last updated: 29 Aug 2025, 02:33 PM