Currently, the Greenbelt…

Currently, the Greenbelt covers only 21% of the lands in the Greater Golden Horseshoe. Growing the Greenbelt throughout the region will add resilience to the broader local ecosystem while helping to safeguard its ecological integrity, social vitality, and economic prosperity.

While Ontario has a proud history of wise land-use planning and world-class leadership in watershed management, recent reductions in environmental protection are creating uncertainty and skepticism.

The timing of this initiative, therefore, could not be more appropriate.

We urge the province to grow the Greenbelt in the following areas:
• The Paris-Galt Moraine;
• More Urban River Valleys (URVs), including those in Appendix A2, and ensuring the inclusion of the headwaters of all the URVs;
• Natural Heritage System across the Greater Golden Horseshoe;
• Agricultural System in the Greater Golden Horseshoe;
• Lands and waters in the Bluebelt proposal; and,
• Key headwater areas not included above.

We do not consider these recommendations and those below to be aspirational for some distant future: they are needed now.

We urge you to embrace this once-in-a-generation opportunity to safeguard our regional resilience by substantially extending the Greenbelt into the broader area of the Greater Golden Horseshoe.

Andrew McCammon
Executive Director
Ontario Headwaters Institute