Ontario’s Precious Farmland: Beyond the Greenbelt Controversy

Ontario’s vibrant landscapes and rich, world-class quality farmlands have long been the pride of our province. However, a recent decision and the subsequent Auditor General’s report about the removal of 7,400 acres from the Greenbelt has brought the conservation of these treasured lands to the forefront of public discourse. This controversy is not just about those acres; it reveals a much larger and pressing issue about Ontario’s dwindling farmland.

The Controversy Unpacked

The Greenbelt – a protected expanse of farmland, forest, and wetlands encircling the Greater Toronto Area and spanning 2 million acres, has been at the heart of a major controversy. Premier Doug Ford’s government decided to remove protections from 7,400 acres of land to create more land for housing development.¹ As the public consultation period opened, the voice of the Ontarians was unmistakably clear. Of the 35,000 responses that the government received, an overwhelming majority were opposed to this decision.²

Multiple reports assert that there was no need to encroach upon the Greenbelt to fulfill housing development goals.^3,4 Then why, many wondered, did the government press on with such an unpopular and seemingly unnecessary decision? The Auditor General’s inquiry revealed a troubling answer: the lands were not selected through an objective or transparent process, allowing private developers to select the lands being removed, increasing their collective value of their properties by $8.3 billion,² calling into question who is making the decision in our government.