Proposed agricultural land use amendment for Hearst and Kapuskasing

Crown land in Northern Ontario

Northern Ontario is one of the few areas in the province with an abundance of relatively affordable land. Given that land is the single largest cost in the establishment or expansion of a farm, the opportunity to access affordable and sufficiently sized blocks of land provides promise for agricultural growth in the north.

The demand for Crown land for agricultural use in Northern Ontario has increased due to:

• changes in climate
• agricultural economics
• agricultural practices
• government promotion of agriculture in the north

Other provincial government initiatives have contributed to the increase in demand for Crown land for agriculture, including:

• the Northern Ontario Agri-Food Strategy
• the Northern Livestock Pilot

The Northern Livestock Pilot study area falls within Northern Ontario's Great Clay Belt along the Highway 11 corridor between Cochrane and Hearst.

The lack of access to Crown land, which makes up nearly 95% of all land in the north, is a barrier to agricultural development in Northern Ontario. It is difficult to access Crown land for agriculture due to:

• area-specific land use policies that do not permit the disposition (i.e. sale or lease) of Crown land for agriculture
• restrictions (e.g., dispositions for farm expansion only and not for new farms) within land use policies that permit the disposition of Crown land for agriculture:

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) is responsible for dispositions of Crown land in Ontario. Within the Hearst Administrative District there are 5 land use areas that do not permit the disposition, or they restrict the disposition, of Crown Land for agriculture. These policies have been in place, with little to no changes, since 1983.

Proposed changes to land use policies

We are proposing to amend the land use direction within these 5 land use areas so that the disposition of Crown lands for agriculture would be included as a permitted use in these areas. These changes would allow MNRF to consider requests for Crown lands for agriculture within these areas.

Decisions on specific requests for land for agricultural use would be made following an evaluation and assessment of potential environmental affects using MNRF’s Class Environmental Assessment for Resource Stewardship and Facility Development Projects.

We anticipate the amendment to the land use policies will:

• facilitate the access to Crown land
• increase opportunities within the agriculture industries
• promote agricultural economy within the identified region

For example, the amendment could allow the Northern Livestock Project to move forward as well as other potential projects.

These changes also have the potential to impact the amount of Crown land that is available for other uses, such as the area of productive forest available to the forest industry. We anticipate these impacts to be minor as environmental planning will consider:

• the potential impacts of specific dispositions of Crown land on other users of Crown land
• other potential environmental impacts

Consultation opportunities

• the amendment is being posted to the Crown Land Use Policy Atlas in addition to being posted as a proposal notice to the Environmental Registry
• direct notification is being issued to local stakeholders such as stakeholder committees and interest groups, parties believed to be potentially affected, and others known to have a specific interest in the issue

We will consider all comments received during the comment period as part of our decision-making process. The last day to comment is May 14, 2020.