In its attempts to make more land available for housing, Premier Doug Ford's government is threatening the viability of land where hundreds of thousands of people work, the Toronto Region Board of Trade
says in a new report.
The report, entitled The Race For Space, looks at what are called "employment lands" – areas exclusively zoned for factories, warehouses, offices, big institutional employers and commercial buildings.
The Board of Trade says the availability of employment land is "already under intense pressure" and it's concerned some of the government's new land-use reforms will drive down supply and drive up price,
putting jobs at risk.
"Low availability of suitable employment land is making it increasingly difficult for businesses to invest or expand in the region," the report says. "Policies that further erode the supply of employment lands will
only make this problem worse."
The Ford government is proposing significant changes to the policy that has guided land use in the Greater Toronto Area for the past 20 years that would make it easier for municipalities to convert employment
land to residential use.
"If these measures all come into force as proposed, without clear policy guardrails, the province unintentionally risks imposing a significant constraint on the ability of businesses to invest, grow, and create jobs
in Ontario," says the report.
