What is a pre-consultation meeting and is it required before submitting a planning application in Ontario?

A pre-consultation meeting is an early meeting between an applicant and municipal planning staff, held before a formal planning application, such as a rezoning, subdivision, or site plan application, is submitted, meant to identify what studies, plans, and supporting information the municipality will expect to see, and to flag any obvious concerns before the applicant invests in preparing a full submission. It's generally a more collaborative, information-gathering step than a formal hearing.

Whether pre-consultation is required, and for which types of applications, is set by each municipality's own procedures rather than by a single uniform provincial rule, and many municipalities that require it will not accept certain application types as complete without evidence that pre-consultation took place first. Even where it's not strictly mandatory, going through pre-consultation is generally a practical advantage, since it can surface issues, such as a required traffic or environmental study, early enough to build into the project's design and timeline, rather than discovering them only after a formal application is already submitted and under review. Checking your specific municipality's current requirements before starting the application process is worthwhile.