Barrie is moving one step closer to expanding its northern boundaries after city council voted in favour of a proposed municipal restructuring framework.
The decision, made Oct. 1 at general committee and later ratified through a bylaw at council, would see Barrie annex more than 2,000 acres from Springwater and Oro-Medonte townships.
If approved by both townships, the County of Simcoe and the Ontario government, the agreement would bring 1,376 acres of community development lands and 773 acres of industrial development lands into the city. Roughly 200 residents live within the affected area.
Under the deal, Barrie would pay $15,000 per developable acre, totalling nearly $39 million. That includes $33 million for the lands, $5 million toward regional economic growth initiatives and $850,000 to Springwater for local economic development.
City officials hope to finalize the boundary adjustment by Jan. 1, 2026, ahead of the next municipal election in October. If approved, the annexed lands would become part of the newly approved wards 1, 3 and 5.
Barrie first announced its intentions to pursue a boundary adjustment in 2023, stating the need to seek new housing and employment lands. In 2024, the province appointed a facilitator to guide negotiations among the municipalities. Sept. 30, 2025, was set as the deadline for a restructuring framework to be reached by the three municipalities.
At a Sept. 29 public meeting at Barrie City Hall, nearly 90 people attended, with several voicing both support and opposition to the proposal. The meeting fulfilled Municipal Act requirements for public consultation.
Council did not debate the matter at its Oct. 1 meeting, but Mayor Alex Nuttall has previously emphasized the need to prepare for future growth.
“Barrie is growing, and the fact is, we need more land for our future growth,” Nuttall told Compass News earlier this year.
“Springwater and Oro-Medonte should prosper as well. I believe we have to keep the dialogue going… so we can move forward in the best way possible.”
According to the city’s Joint Land Needs Analysis, Barrie will require more land to meet its growth targets as the population climbs toward 298,000 by 2051.
In January 2010, Barrie annexed about 5,700 acres from the Town of Innisfil to provide enough land to accommodate projected population and employment growth through 2031.
