Toronto Pearson appreciates…

Toronto Pearson appreciates the opportunity to comment on the introduction of the Special Economic Zones Act, 2025.

This legislation is a timely opportunity to accelerate nationally significant infrastructure, strengthen domestic supply chains and reinforce Ontario’s competitiveness during a period of global uncertainty.

Toronto Pearson recommends that the Act be used not only to facilitate growth, but to protect the strategic employment land immediately surrounding Toronto Pearson, a massive economic engine for Ontario that drives $70.6B in GDP annually.

The lands surrounding Toronto Pearson form the Pearson Economic Zone (PEZ), a 200-square-kilometre industrial and employment hub spanning Mississauga, Brampton, Vaughan, Caledon and Toronto. The PEZ is:

• Canada’s largest industrial employment zone;
• Home to 18,000 businesses employing 500,000 people – an increase of 100,000 since 2017
• Responsible for 7% of Ontario’s GDP ($70.6B annually);
• Ontario’s manufacturing and logistics epicenter, with the largest concentration of manufacturing companies in North America; and
• Home to Toronto Pearson, Canada’s largest airport, a key gateway for trade, tourism and outbound travel.

The jobs and economic benefits that flow from these vital economic lands are a critical insurance policy at a time when the world is being realigned and our future growth path is shrouded in uncertainty. The Pearson Economic Zone works – protecting it is about protecting jobs, investment and Ontario’s role in global supply chains.

Despite its significance, the PEZ is under pressure from speculative land use conversions that seek to rezone employment lands for residential development. These conversions:

• Destabilize industrial land values, pricing out manufacturers and logistics firms;
• Undermine investor confidence and long-term land use certainty;
• Encroach on protective airport operating buffers; and
• Push high-value economic activity out of Ontario, often permanently.

Given the concentration of U.S. branch plants in the PEZ, the risk of capital and job flight is real and immediate. If unchecked, residential speculation could erode one of Ontario’s most productive economic zones.

Toronto Pearson supports the Special Economic Zones Act, 2025 by encouraging the government to broaden its scope to include protections for the vital urban employment areas around the PEZ. Failing to act could put airport operations, logistics and advanced manufacturing firms at risk from encroachment, land use conversions, noise complaints, destabilized land values, high rents and wavering investor confidence.

We recommend that the legislation and accompanying regulations:

• Include mechanisms to identify and safeguard the PEZ strategic employment zone;
• Recognize the central role of infrastructure hubs, including airports, in anchoring economic activity; and
• Align Special Economic Zone designations with enabling infrastructure, including transit and energy supply.

Toronto Pearson is ready to work with the Government of Ontario to implement this legislation and explore how the PEZ can serve as a model urban Special Economic Zone.

By enabling reinvestment, protecting critical employment lands and accelerating infrastructure development, the Act can secure Ontario’s place as a global leader in trade, manufacturing and innovation.

We look forward to continued partnership in building a stronger Ontario.