As municipalities continue to address urban sprawl and development issues, smart growth principles are being adopted into Official Plans. However, despite their incorporation within municipal and provincial planning documents, implementation gaps remain. This paper explores and seeks to understand this gap using a City of Ottawa case study. Through a content analysis of the preliminary document for the City’s New Official Plan, this paper argues that the City of Ottawa will incorporate smart growth principles into its  New Official Plan, but will continue to experience institutional, political, economic and socio-cultural barriers to implementation. It is key that policymakers, city staff, and smart growth advocates identify and address these barriers during the planning process by engaging with federal and provincial governments, as well as community stakeholders. Additional research, such as into the impact of Covid-19 on municipalities, will be essential for policymakers and city staff in addressing these barriers in the future.