Ontario government to table bill to return Greenbelt land and codify its boundaries

The Ontario government is expected to introduce legislation Monday that would return parcels of land to the Greenbelt as well as codify its boundaries.

The Ontario government is expected to introduce legislation Monday that would return parcels of land to the Greenbelt as well as codify its boundaries.

Little else is known about what will be in the bill, but Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Paul Calandra previously told reporters it will be an “added extra layer of protection that doesn’t currently exist,” ensuring that future changes will have to be made through legislation rather than regulation.

The Doug Ford government used regulations to alter the boundaries of the Greenbelt less than a year ago, removing 15 sites equaling about 7,400 acres of protected land without a vote in the legislature.

An additional 9,400 acres of land was also added to the Greenbelt, but the majority of land was already protected under other means.

Since the land removal took place both the province’s auditor general and integrity commissioner has found that certain developers were favoured in the selection process.

According to the auditor general, about 92 per cent of the land removed from the Greenbelt benefitted three developers who had ties to the housing ministry and met with the then-minister’s chief of staff at an industry dinner.

The owners of the 15 land sites chosen through this process could see more than an $8.3 billion increase to the values of their properties, the auditor found.