Whitby Green Standard

The Whitby Green Standard is a toolkit that has been developed to help encourage and enhance sustainable new development across the Town. The Whitby Green Standard helps to ensure that new developments in the Town are constructed with sustainability in mind and identifies ways in which developers can go above and beyond to exceed these criteria.

Whitby Green Standard Guides

All new developments are required to consider sustainability and we encourage developers to review and follow the user guides below:

How to Apply

As of May 2023, applicants for all new Pre-consultations for Site Plan and Draft Plan of Subdivision applications are to submit their Whitby Green Standard applications through the Online Application Portal.

The requirements of the Whitby Green Standard have not changed at this time, the application process has just moved to digital process. The Online Portal Application was developed to help streamline the Whitby Green Standard application process and to ensure that Applicants provide the required information at each stage.

Program benefits

This program will help meet the Town's goal of being a healthy, sustainable, and complete community – with balanced residential and employment growth and high quality of life. The Whitby Green Standard is also a response to the Town's greenhouse gas reduction target of 100% by the year 2045.

Frequently asked questions

Review the frequently asked questions about the Whitby Green Standard.

What is the Whitby Green Standard?

The Whitby Green Standard is a planning tool used to help guide sustainable new development in Whitby.

What is the goal of the Whitby Green Standard?

The goal of the Whitby Green Standard is to increase the uptake of sustainability measures for new development in the community. This will help new developments improve environmental, social, and economic performance, increase community resiliency, and support the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate the effects of climate change.

How does the Whitby Green Standard Work?

The Whitby Green Standard provides a one-stop-shop for navigating municipal sustainability policies, plans & strategies in new development. The checklists found in the Whitby Green Standard will help developers and the Town ensure that minimum sustainability criteria are being met during a development application.

The Whitby Green Standard also highlights opportunities for developers to go above and beyond to incorporate sustainable practices into their design and developments. There are four tiers of the Whitby Green Standard:

Tier 1 of the checklists identifies mandatory criteria that need to be met by all new development applications
Tiers 2 to 4 identify ways in which developers can achieve high-performance sustainable development on a voluntary basis.

Are there incentives for meeting the Whitby Green Standard?

The Town of Whitby is working with the Region of Durham, the City of Pickering and the Town of Ajax to develop an incentive program.

Will the Whitby Green Standard delay the current development process?

No. It is anticipated that the Whitby Green Standard will not delay the current process unless minimum standards are not being met.

When will the Whitby Green Standard advance to Version 2?

Every four years the Whitby Green Standard will advance to the next tier being the minimum requirement. In 2024, the Town hired a consultant to update the Whitby Green Standard to Version 2, which included stakeholder consultation. Version 2 will reflect the feedback received and will be presented to Council for approval with the target of coming into effect in September 2025.