The Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) has granted the City of Hamilton, Columbia International College (CIC), and the nearby neighbourhood group Pleasant View Protection Corp. (PVPC) until the last week of November to finalize an issues list and procedural order regarding a proposal by CIC to use the former convent of the Sisters of St. Joseph at 154 and 574 Northcliffe Avenue as a day school location for over 1,000 students.
The parties are to return to the OLT for a rare third case management conference (CMC) before the end of 2024 to hopefully determine when a full contested public hearing under the Niagara Escarpment Planning and Development Act (NEP) will occur.
There are two NEP applications: one to permit the day school use (which would involve converting the facility into a private secondary school for Grade 12 students), and a second to add a gymnasium to the property. The OLT is conducting hearings on the use application following a 2023 decision by the Niagara Escarpment Commission (NEC) to ‘procedurally refuse’ it, setting the stage for the OLT to conduct a full public hearing and make recommendations to the Minister of Natural Resources and the NEC.
This process moved forward after the Ontario Divisional Court dismissed a judicial review application by the PVPC that had sought to prevent the OLT from considering the matter.
A key determination that needs to be decided is whether the school will constitute an “urban use” under the Niagara Escarpment legislation. If it is an urban use in the rural Pleasant View area, it could be denied pending the next review of the Niagara Escarpment Plan.
At today’s (Oct. 31) case management conference, City of Hamilton lawyer Patrick MacDonald stated Council formally approved the City seeking party status in the hearing.
MacDonald told Tribunal Member George Politis that delays in finalizing the needed materials “rest with the City” and apologized for that.
The City has not taken a formal public position on the application. MacDonald stated the City seeks party status to ensure the City’s planning submissions are heard by the Tribunal.
Lawyer Scott Snider, representing CIC, stated there is no objection to granting status.
Nancy McKeil represented the PVPC at today’s case management conference.
In 2019, the previous term’s City Council voted to support the project by granting a temporary use bylaw permitting CIC to house 96 students in the former convent dormitory. CIC is not presently using the domitory.
Because there are technically two applications, the direction of the OLT is for the parties to create a draft hearing plan, two issues lists, and two procedural orders.
OLT Details:
Case Number: OLT-23-000388
Production Details
v. 1.0.0
Published: October 31, 2025
Last updated: October 31, 2025
Author: Joey Coleman
Update Record
v. 1.0.0 original version