Provincial Secondary Land Use Program

While the primary purpose of hydro corridors is for transmitting electricity, the government allows access to transmission corridor lands for secondary uses, including parks and trails, road crossings, water and sewer pipelines and parking lots for transit and commercial facilities, through the Provincial Secondary Land Use Program (PSLUP). The PSLUP is administered jointly by Infrastructure Ontario (IO) and Hydro One and operates on the basis of a series of Public Use Principles, which give priority to public uses over private one

The hierarchy of secondary uses is as follows:

• New linear public uses have top priority;
• New provincial/inter-regional linear public uses have priority over local uses;
• New non-linear public infrastructure uses have priority over private uses;
• Non-linear public recreational uses have priority over private;
• Multi-use corridors are preferred.

Public bodies or private land owners can apply to use hydro corridor lands for a secondary use through the PSLUP. Hydro One is responsible for completing a technical review of the proposal and, if Hydro One gives its technical clearance, IO is responsible for executing the appropriate agreement to facilitate the proposed secondary use (e.g. easement, licence, land sale). To inquire or apply, you must contact Hydro One at 1-888-231-6657. A Hydro One Real Estate Coordinator will be assigned to your file and will collect the necessary information from you. A detailed flow chart of the application and approval process can be found here.

Roles and Responsibilities 

Ministry of Infrastructure (MOI)  

The Ministry of Infrastructure owns the transmission corridor lands on behalf of the Province and provides strategic program management for the Provincial Secondary Land Use Program (PSLUP).

Infrastructure Ontario 

IO, on behalf of MOI, is responsible for the execution of all secondary land use agreements on the corridor lands, subject to the technical approval of Hydro One. IO will not agree to permit a secondary use that Hydro One has determined may negatively impact or interfere with transmission capacity, reliability, or safety. IO is also responsible for securing any necessary municipal planning and/or environmental approvals at the expense of the proponent.

Hydro One Networks Inc.
Hydro One is the first point of contact with regard to proposed secondary uses on the corridor lands. Each proposal shall be reviewed on its own merit by Hydro One technical staff and where inter-jurisdictional proposals are submitted, the entire project(s) shall be reviewed against its cumulative (and individual) effect(s). Hydro One may reject any proposal if the proposal interferes with one, several or a combination of the following: safety of the transmission system, maintenance impacts, restoration, system reliability and system expansion. Where it pertains to linear or non-linear proposals for secondary uses on hydro corridors, whether submitted by public or private interests, Hydro One’s technical review of all uses and proposals will be one of the determining factors as it relates to the approval of these uses by IO.

Municipalities  

Municipalities will provide proponents of secondary use proposals with guidance and information advising as to whether or not a proposal conforms to, or complies with, municipal planning documents. In some cases, municipalities will also be given an option to provide comments to IO on any interests they may have in a private secondary use application within their jurisdiction.

PSLUP - Frequently Asked Questions
PSLUP - Glossary of Terms