The city council today approved regulations to help increase parks across Ottawa.

The new park dedication bylaw provides more higher-density parks to better meet the expected population growth in the new official plan.

When development occurs, Ontario municipalities can require developers to either dedicate parks or contribute cash instead to the municipality.

The city's internal bylaw sets the rules and rates specific to Ottawa, but recent provincial legislative changes require the city to replace its current internal bylaw.

The new internal bylaw expands current park dedication requirements for mid-rise and high-rise developments to better support the master plan's call for parks and recreational facilities of two hectares of parkland per 1000 residents.

The council approved a new policy and internal bylaw to implement community benefit charges city-wide — a new tool replacing Section 37 under the regional planning act to help municipalities pay for community projects through high-density developments.

The fees align with the city's approach to make growth pay for growth and reduce the burden on taxpayers.

Fees will be collected on new city-wide projects where a building of five stories or more is developed adding ten or more units.