Principal Planner, Development Planning

Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville provided pay range

This range is provided by Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville. Your actual pay will be based on your skills and experience — talk with your recruiter to learn more.

Base pay range

CA$110,299.00/yr - CA$134,196.00/yr

Job # 2025-107-IE

Department: Development Services

Status: Full Time, Permanent

Date Posted: December 4, 2025

Date Closing: December 18, 4:00 p.m.

Number of Positions: 1

Scheduled Hours/Shifts: 37.5 hours per week

Flexible Working Arrangements: Yes

Vacancy Reason: New Position

Why Stouffville

Working for the Town of Stouffville means being a part of one of HRD Canada’s Best Places to Work. Here, we foster a sense of belonging as a tightknit workforce. The Town is dedicated to supporting its employees, by providing competitive compensation, OMERS Pension, employer funded benefits, paid vacation, sick time, EAP and flexible work arrangements, to help you prioritize what matters most.

Are you passionate about shaping vibrant, and livable communities? The Town is seeking a Principal Planner – Development Planning to lead and oversee our collaborative and high performing Development Planning team. This position will play a key role in managing planning applications, streamlining processes, and ensuring timely, high-quality service delivery under the Ontario Planning Act. —all within a supportive, professional environment committed to excellence and continuous improvement. This is an exciting opportunity for a seasoned planning professional who thrives in a dynamic, multi-stakeholder environment and is committed to innovation, collaboration, and excellence in municipal planning.

We are committed to being an equal opportunity employer, supportive of an inclusive, barrier-free recruitment and selection process and as we grow, it’s important that our workforce reflect the citizens we serve. At the Town, we respect, encourage, and celebrate our diversity. If contacted for an employment opportunity, please advise if you require accommodation.

Position Purpose

Under the direction of Director, Planning Services, the Principal Planner will take a lead role and directly oversee the work of Development Planning staff. The Principal Planner will supervise and manage the processing and administration of a broad range of planning applications under the Planning Act. This position will also be responsible for the Town’s Committee of Adjustment portfolio.
This position will supervise and provide guidance to the Development Planning team to manage, coordinate, accelerate and facilitate the processing of planning applications. The primary purpose of this role would be to work closely with the Development Planners working on the Planning applications to ensure that the Planning Applications are processed efficiently and meet the prescribed timelines with respect to notification, processing and decisions as per the Planning Act. Other responsibilities include the development of planning recommendations for departmental consideration, presentation and discussion of findings and recommendations with politicians, developers, internal staff, external agencies, and the public, and the implementation of planning decisions. This position will also be responsible for the overseeing the administration of the Town’s Comprehensive Zoning By-law and related policies or other strategic town wide planning projects.
The Principal Planner will also provide input to Director, Planning Services in development of service level standards, division procedures & operational improvement strategies. This position will assist the Director, Planning Services, in managing day‑to‑day and routine functions of the Division and other duties as assigned.

Qualifications and Requirements

• University degree in Urban Planning, Urban Studies or related discipline.
• Current membership in Canadian Institute of Planners, accompanied by Registered Professional Planner designation required.
• six to eight years of progressively more responsible relevant professional planning experience, in a municipal environment including at least three years of responsibility involving the provision of guidance to and the review of the work of others.
• Experience in a municipal work environment is mandatory.
• Thorough knowledge of the Ontario Planning Act, Provincial Planning Statement and other relevant provincial policies.
• Advanced knowledge of land use planning and the land development processes gained through first‑hand experience in administering these processes at the municipal level.
• Understanding and experience in dealing with managing complex and high‑profile applications preferably with municipal background. Private sector experience is an asset.
• Ability to present evidence at the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) and other Boards and tribunals.
• Ability to develop alternative and creative solutions within a dynamic, multi‑stakeholder environment and manage diverse internal and external stakeholders involved in the Planning Applications.
• Independent decision‑making abilities, discretion and good judgement when handling confidential/sensitive information and communicating with individuals regarding controversial matters.
• Excellent communication and facilitation skills, communicating in a clear, professional and respectful way; demonstrates active listening.
• Excellent negotiation, dispute resolution and conflict management skills with demonstrated ability to manage large meetings in particular when conflicts and disputes arise.
• Ability to identify priorities, organize and coordinate a variety of job responsibilities having simultaneous deadlines and changing priorities.
• Passion to stay up to date on new trends for housing and employment development in the Town.
• Demonstrated ability to develop strong partnerships and client relationships.
• Forward‑thinking and innovative, with a progressive mindset and ability to develop creative solutions that remove red tape and barriers and streamline development processes.
• Political acumen with the ability to collaborate and facilitate conversations between staff, land developers, residents, and relevant stakeholder groups.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office- Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint and knowledge of ARC GIS.
• Class G Driver’s License in good standing and reliable vehicle to use on corporate business.
• Availability to attend evening meetings and/or work overtime to accommodate peak periods and workloads.
• Interacts with others in an inclusive, collaborative and respectful way that creates effective working relationships, with peers and colleagues, general public, community stakeholders, other governments/agencies, developers, businesses and elected officials.
• Respond positively and professionally to change and helps others transition through change.

How to apply

Please forward your resume in confidence by December 18, 2025, at 4:00 p.m., identifying Job # 2025-107-IE in the subject line to hr@townofws.ca.

Please save your resume in PDF version and save the document in the following format: Full name, Position Title.

We thank all applicants for their interest in this position, however, only those applicants selected for an interview will be contacted.

Seniority level

• Associate

Employment type

• Full-time

Job function

• Government Administration