Premier Doug Ford says the…

Premier Doug Ford says the removal of 7,400 acres from Toronto's Greenbelt will allow the construction of 50,000 homes - a mere 3% of the provincial goal of 1.5 million. It also opens the door to further erosion of the Greenbelt and similar lands in other parts of the province.

An expert panel called for the province to allow the construction of up to 4 units & up to 4 storeys on every lot in cities across the province. They did not recommend any incursion on the Greenbelt, nor did they see the need.

The panel did conclude that there is more than enough space within Toronto's built-up area for the required homes if intensification takes place along transit routes.

The opening up of Greenbelt lands to build more car-centric single-family homes will not produce affordable homes which are the least cost-effective form of housing there is in terms of urban infrastructure. These costs will inevitably be passed along to future homeowners.

The Greenbelt was created to protect the headwaters of the rivers that flow into Lake Ontario, to preserve valuable farmland, and to connect the forest and wetland ecosystems that extend across the top of the GTHA. We must save this area, not develop it.