It is understood there is a…

It is understood there is a need for additional housing to meet growing demand and the government is taking steps to facilitate new developments. One of the proposed elements of the new policy under consideration to increase residential land supply is to “streamline and simplify policy direction to enable municipalities to promptly seize opportunities to convert lands within employment areas for new residential and mixed use development, where appropriate”. It is unclear if this would include conversion of lands designated as Provincially Significant Employment Zones (PSEZ) and what streamlined/simplified implies.

PSEZ support industrial development, investment, jobs and economic growth in the province. Industrial and manufacturing facilities such as GM Canada’s automotive facilities that exist within those zones need protection and the government should proceed cautiously to ensure new policy direction doesn’t conflict with the objectives of maintaining these lands in a condition that supports existing industrial uses and helps attract new critical investment opportunities.

While increasing residential and mixed-use development is important for economic growth, the preservation of industrial areas is also necessary. Any changes related to employment area conversion should ensure that if the land is truly no longer appropriate for other industrial uses, the integrity of remaining adjacent employment lands is not compromised and continued appropriate buffers that provide a transition between critical industrial land and other more sensitive uses are maintained. Residential uses may not always be appropriate within a converted industrial land use. Ontario needs to weigh the risks of a gradual erosion of industrial land and the associated employment and economic benefits.