The future of Ontario’s Greenbelt will be re-examined again this year as the Ontario government prepares to embark on a mandatory 10-year review to determine whether parcels of land should be added or removed — a process that Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives have offered little information on.
When the two-million-acre Greenbelt was first created by the former Liberal government in 2005, the legislation mandated a review of the land every decade after thorough consultation with “any affected public bodies” including the Greenbelt council, Ministry of Natural Resources, municipalities and the public.
That process was turned on its head in 2022 when the Progressive Conservative government passed legislation and regulations that eliminated provincial protections for a total of 7,400 acres of land to build 50,000 homes.
After reversing that decision, the Progressive Conservatives tabled new legislation to restore the removed lands, add 9,400 acres into the Greenbelt and laid out a new process for the mandatory 10-year review.
“Moving forward, this review will be led by impartial, nonpartisan experts in conservation, agriculture and environmentalism, and will include engagement with Indigenous communities and municipalities,” the party said in October 2023.
“Once final, the experts’ recommendations will be provided to the Auditor General and the Commissioner of the Environment for consultation to ensure that the review process was fair and guided by the recent recommendations to improve the process.”
Ford has yet to reveal who will be tapped to lead the expert panel but at least one Progressive Conservative candidate has been using the spectre of the review as a campaign talking point.
“The Greenbelt is not Algonquin Park; it’s not a nature reserve,” Todd McCarthy, the PC Party’s candidate for Durham told one voter in an exchange that was caught on a doorbell camera. “Farmers come to me and say ‘I’m locked in the Greenbelt, what do I do?’”
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McCarthy, who served as a cabinet minister between 2023 and 2025, then told the voter he’s been advising Greenbelt landowners about the impending process where their arguments would be heard.
“I say wait for the commission to study the Greenbelt and an independent finding will determine what should be added to the Greenbelt and what should be taken out of the Greenbelt,” McCarthy said.
Details of that commission have yet to be revealed even as the four main party leaders ruled out building housing on Greenbelt land.
“As the premier said in September 2023: ‘We won’t make any changes to the Greenbelt in the future,’” a PC campaign spokesperson said in a brief response to Global News.
The NDP promised not to remove any land from the area but said it would consider adding more if elected in Thursday’s provincial ballot.
“We would review as required by law, and our criteria would be protecting ecologically sensitive land and farmland,” a spokesperson said. “We would listen to experts and conduct environmental assessments as a part of the review.”
Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie had once mused about removing land from the Greenbelt in certain situations — a position she was forced to quickly reverse.
Speaking to reporters after she officially launched her Liberal leadership bid in 2023, Crombie outlined a situation in which she said she would be open to swapping land out of the protected Greenbelt, if she eventually became premier.
She said that if “local communities and local municipalities” came to the province and said some land was “trapped” in the Greenbelt, they could “ask for that to be exchanged for other (new) Greenbelt land.”
The Liberal campaign was firm that that is not the party’s position in the 2025 general election.
“Unlike Doug Ford, who tried to sell-off the Greenbelt for over $8 billion to his rich friends, Bonnie Crombie will keep the Greenbelt whole,” a spokesperson said.
“She will protect our water, farmland and green spaces for this and the next generation. Any review of lands that should be added to protect those vital resources will be considered.”
During an election debate, party leaders were equally clear.
“No,” Doug Ford when asked during the Ontario Leader’s Debate whether a re-elected Progressive Conservative government would build housing on the Greenbelt.
Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie, NDP Leader Marit Stiles and Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner also shut down the idea.
“When I was chair of Big City Mayors we made it very clear that we could accommodate the housing that was necessary all within in the municipal boundaries that had existed,” Crombie said during the debate.
“Our farmland is not up for grabs,” said Stiles. “We have plenty of other opportunities and space within urban boundaries to build the housing we need.”
The Greens have promised to expand the greenbelt and create a new “farmbelt” in Ontario.
The election will be held on Thursday, Feb. 27.