I am writing today asking…

I am writing today asking that the provincial government continue to fight for the ability to sever more “agricultural” deemed land throughout the province.

I understand the value of farmland and the quality of soil we have in Ontario. I’m not suggesting that we squeeze a home on every inch of available farm land. However, if a farmer or agricultural land owner owns a property they wish to sever, in this free country in which we live, how can he be denied the right to do so?

I’d like to share some of my personal story and why this proposed policy by the Ford Government is important to me. My wife and I bought our house just before the pandemic in November 2019. Since then we have gotten married, are getting ready to have children, and will be looking to up size.
My parents own a home on a large country lot just down the road from us that would be perfect to build a second home on for my wife and I. If we could sever a piece of their property (a portion that’s not capable of being farmed, but still classified as agricultural land and therefore can’t severed) we could potentially live on the same property as my parents. This would allow my mother to retire and become a full time, on site baby sitter for our children.
All the utilities, underground pipes, and other similar connections would be effortless, as everything is already set up at the road in that area.
This property is also my childhood home, so being able to build a home and raise a family on the same ground I grew up on would mean the world to me.

Unfortunately, because of this current policy preventing severances, my wife and I may never be able to live on the same property as my parents.
I’m asking for the government to at least consider special circumstances like mine, and possibly consider agricultural severances on a case by case basis, rather than making a blanket policy that prevents any sort of agricultural land, (even non-farmable land), incapable of ever being severed.

Thank you for your time.