Ontario will cut Greenbelt land for housing and add land elsewhere

Ontario is proposing to take land out of the protected Greenbelt to build at least 50,000 new homes while adding new land elsewhere — contradicting a pledge made last year.

Housing Minister Steve Clark announced on Friday that the government will launch a 30-day consultation on removing approximately 7,400 acres from the Greenbelt, which was established to protect environmentally sensitive areas from development.

If that proceeds, landowners will be expected to develop housing plans quickly with construction beginning no later than 2025, he said. The aim is to build at least 50,000 homes on those lands in service of the government’s target of building 1.5 million homes in 10 years, according to the report.

“Today, we are taking additional action to support this goal by launching a consultation on proposed Greenbelt changes,” Clark said in a statement.

“These proposals will support our municipal partners’ plans for responsible growth, resulting in the construction of at least 50,000 new homes and the overall expansion of the Greenbelt.”

Clark stated last year that he would not cut the Greenbelt or do a land swap when announcing plans to expand it by adding a moraine south of Toronto and a series of urban river lands.

“I want to be clear: We will not entertain any proposals that would move or open up Greenbelt lands to any kind of development,” he had stated.

9,400 acres to the Greenbelt elsewhere

The government is now proposing to add 9,400 acres to the Greenbelt elsewhere — including a portion of the Paris Galt Moraine and 13 urban river valleys in the Greater Golden Horseshoe — so when factoring in the land that would be removed, the Greenbelt would grow in size by 2,000 acres, Clark said.

The Greenbelt was established in Ontario in 2005 to protect agricultural and environmentally sensitive lands in the Greater Golden Horseshoe region from development.

According to Environmental Defence, the announcement on Friday violates the government’s “loudest, clearest election promise” by inflicting a fatal 7,400-acre wound on the vital and wildly popular Greenbelt.

“This attack would end the Greenbelt’s critical role in stopping sprawl and protecting farmland, forests, and the source of our drinking water, as well as addressing climate change,” Phil Pothen, the group’s Ontario environment program manager, wrote in a statement.

“The government should be ashamed, and Ontario residents should be outraged.”

Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner pointed out that the announcement was made while all eyes were on a strike by 55,000 education workers. Premier Doug Ford’s legacy of “environmental destruction” is deteriorating by the day, he said in a statement.

“We cannot allow this government to force the false choice between environmental protection and building the desperately needed housing,” Schreiner wrote.

The announcement was described as “disturbing” by Interim NDP Leader Peter Tabuns.

“Ford has always targeted our greenspace and farmland. “He’s on a crusade against the environment on behalf of his billionaire developer buddies,” Tabuns said in a written statement.

“Mr. Ford has previously backed down from his plans to carve up the Greenbelt in the face of public outrage, and the NDP will not rest until he does so again.”

Ford backtracked on an election pledge to allow housing development in the Greenbelt in 2018, promising instead to keep the protected area in its entirety.

“The citizen has spoken. “I’m going to listen to them; if they don’t want me to touch the Greenbelt, we won’t touch it,” Ford said at the time.

Ford made a similar pledge not to “touch” the Greenbelt in 2020, saying “we won’t build on the Greenbelt” after the chair and six members of Ontario’s Greenbelt Council resigned over disagreements with the government.

Interim Liberal Leader John Fraser enquired Friday about “which of (Ford’s) friends stands to benefit” from his new decision.