Allow Backyard Hens
Let's make Barrie a sustainable city by allowing backyard hens for the purpose of household egg consumption.
Many major North American cities, including Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Victoria, New York, Seattle, Chicago and Los Angeles, together with Ontario communities such as Niagara Falls, Brampton, Newmarket,
and Guelph, allow the small-scale raising of hens. Now it's Barrie's turn to join this positive and growing trend.
Hens have existed in cities since the dawn of time an
d continue to thrive in communities around the world to this day. The benefits of raising them include:
Fresh, healthy and delicious home-grown eggs, free of pesticides and antibiotics;
Reduced municipal solid waste as hens consume table scraps and other organic waste;
Reduced backyard pest populations as hens consume weeds and bugs;
Opportunities to teach children about food sources and responsible animal care; and
The addition of great "poultry pets" to families -- hens are people-friendly, nonaggressive and always entertaining to watch.
The City of Barrie is in the process of creating a new comprehensive Zoning By-law, which will be designed to implement the vision and policies of Barrie’s recently adopted Official Plan.
Due to public interest, the new Zoning By-law proposes to establish zoning standards for chicken enclosures and use provisions for backyard chickens (see section 4.9).
To download the first draft of the new Zoning By-law and for full information, please visit BuildingBarrie.ca/zoning.
The first draft of the new Zoning By-law is open for public feedback online until April 28, 2023. Public meetings are also being held to gather feedback:
In-person Public Information Centre
An in-person Public Information Centre will be held on April 19 from 4pm to 7pm at the Barrie City Hall Rotunda (70 Collier Street). The public is welcome to drop in to provide feedback. No pre-registration required
Virtual Public Information Centre
A virtual Public Information Centre will be held on April 20 from 2–3pm. Please register in advance to attend.
City staff will collect public and stakeholder feedback from the first draft of the Zoning By-law and incorporate this into a second draft, which is planned to be released in summer 2023.