Decision on proposed amendment to the Greenbelt Area boundary regulation – Growing the size of the Greenbelt

The government is taking bold action to address Ontario’s housing crisis by building 1.5 million homes over the next 10 years. As part of this plan, the government proposed changes to the Greenbelt that would support municipal partners to plan for responsible growth and help build housing faster and in a targeted manner, while leading to an overall expansion of the Greenbelt, including the addition of 13 new URV areas from this proposal. See ERO #019-6216 for more information on the changes to the Greenbelt Plan, Greenbelt Area boundary regulation (O. Reg. 59/05) and the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan (O. Reg. 140/02).

The public consultation took place from March 24, 2022, through April 23, 2022, and sought feedback on the government’s proposal to change the boundary of the Greenbelt Area, through a proposed amendment to O. Reg. 59/05, to add 13 new URV areas to the Greenbelt. The government received feedback from approximately 49 submissions.

Background

Starting in 2021, the province conducted 2 phases of public consultation related to this proposal. 

Phase 1 was a 61-day public consultation from February 21, 2021 to April 19, 2021 (ERO #019-3136) that sought feedback on initial areas of focus to grow the Greenbelt, including a study area for the Paris Galt Moraine and adding Urban River Valleys.  The Ministry held technical meetings with municipalities and key stakeholders and met with the Greenbelt Council to seek their feedback. Indigenous communities and organizations were engaged through a separate and parallel process.

Phase 2 was a 30-day consultation on the proposed amendments to the Greenbelt Plan schedules and the Greenbelt Area boundary regulation from March 23, 2022 to April 23, 2022 (ERO #019-4485 and ERO #019-4483), seeking feedback to add 13 new Urban River Valley areas.

Current Proposal

• To complement this proposal and to further address the housing crisis, the government also sought feedback through other ERO postings from November 4, 2022 through December 4, 2022, on:

• ERO #019-6216 proposed amendments to the Greenbelt Plan
• ERO #019-6217 proposed amendments to the Greenbelt Area boundary regulation O. Reg. 59/05 that would:
  • Remove lands from the Greenbelt Area that could be suitable for residential development in the near term
  • Add lands in the Paris Galt Moraine to the Greenbelt Area, designated as Protected Countryside with a Natural Heritage System
  • Redesignate lands in the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan Area that could be suitable for residential development in the near term
• ERO #019-6218 the redesignation of land under the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan (O. Reg. 140/02)

Together, the proposal to add new Paris Galt Moraine lands and this proposal to add 13 URV areas, totalling 9,400 acres will account for an overall expansion to the Greenbelt of approximately 2000 acres.  

The strategic removal of lands from the Greenbelt Area was considered in the context of the objectives and policies of the Greenbelt Plan and the requirement in the Greenbelt Act, 2005 that the total amount of land within the Greenbelt Area shall not be reduced.

Description of Ontario Regulation 59/05

O. Reg. 59/05 was made on February 25, 2005 and established the boundary of the Greenbelt Area pursuant to the Greenbelt Act, 2005.  O. Reg. 59/05 has been amended by this regulation to add the following areas to the Greenbelt Area:

• Addition of Stoney Creek in Hamilton as a new URV
• Adding Battlefield Creek in Hamilton as a new URV
• Expansion of Wilmot Creek in Clarington
• Expansion of Soper Creek and Bowmanville Creek in Clarington
• Expansion of Harmony Creek URV by adding Darlington Provincial Park, partially located in Oshawa and partially located in Clarington
• Expansion of Oshawa Creek URVs in Oshawa
• Extension of Fourteen Mile Creek URV in Oakville
• Expansion of Don River URV in Toronto by adding:
  • Burke Brooke
  • Wilket Creek
  • Taylor-Massey Creek
• Expansion of Humber River URV in Toronto by adding:
  • Humber Creek
  • Black Creek

Purpose of regulation amendment

The purpose of the regulation amendment is to expand the Greenbelt Area to enable the policy coverage of the Greenbelt Plan to be extended to these 13 new Urban River Valley areas. Further changes to the Greenbelt Plan and Greenbelt Area boundary regulation (O. Reg. 59/05) have been made to remove or redesignate 15 areas of land under the Greenbelt Plan and Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan (O. Reg. 140/02) and add lands in the Paris Galt Moraine to the Greenbelt Area. See ERO #019-6216 for more details on other changes resulting from this decision.

Schedules 1, 2 and 4 of the Greenbelt Plan have also been amended to include these new URV areas which equal more than 2,400 acres or approximately 1,000 ha of new land added to the Greenbelt. The overall Greenbelt Area will increase from approximately 810,000 ha to approximately 811,000 ha. The new schedules for the Greenbelt Plan came into effect on December 14, 2022.

An amendment to the Greenbelt Area boundary regulation O. Reg. 59/05 has been made to facilitate these changes. Taken together, these amendments allow for the alignment of policy coverage of the Greenbelt Plan with the updated Greenbelt Area boundary. Changes to O. Reg. 59/05 came into effect on December 14, 2022.