Ontario Planning and Development Act, 1994 (S.O. 1994, c. 23, Sch. A).

The Act, under Section 2, confers to the Minister the power to establish, by order, any area of land defined in the order as “development planning area”. Furthermore, when a “development planning area has been established, the Minister shall, (a) cause to be carried out an investigation and survey of the environmental, physical, social and economic conditions affecting the development planning area or any part of it; and (b) cause a proposed “development plan” for the planning area or part of it to be prepared, within a period of two years or such other period of time as the Minister considers appropriate. The Act prescribes development plan content and provides regulation for its submission and approval process.
Section 14, Conflicts, states “Despite any other Act, if there is a conflict between a development plan and an official plan or zoning by-law covering part or all of the same area, the development plan prevails”.