Freight-Supportive Guidelines

As communities grow and change it has become increasingly important to understand, plan
and design for the movement of freight in order to maintain goods movement efficiency and
the economic competitiveness of communities, while integrating and balancing the needs of
other transportation system users and the compatibility of surrounding land uses.

There is broad agreement among both industry and municipalities that guidance is needed to
improve understanding of freight needs, better route goods through communities and balance
needs of freight with needs of others.

The Ontario Ministry of Transportation published the Freight-Supportive Guidelines in January
2016 to address this need. The document was developed as a unique resource, the first of its
kind in Canada, to help municipalities better understand and plan for the vehicles that
transport goods through their communities and thereby support community livability, safety
and economic competitiveness.

With an innovative, easy to use design and comprehensive scope, the document is designed
to support municipal planners, engineers and others in creating freight-supportive
communities. The document includes hundreds of specific strategies related to land use
planning, site design and operational procedures as well as detailed case studies and links to
specialized resources to support implementation.