Land use policy in various forms has been a top-of-mind issue for both the Ontario government and growers this year as the province grapples with the current housing challenge.

In the spring, the provincial government introduced Bill 97, Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act, 2023, and a revised Provincial Planning Statement (PPS) which proposes sweeping changes to land use planning in Ontario, many of which would have significant impact on the agriculture sector.

Along with many other Ontario farm and commodity organizations, the Ontario Fruit & Vegetable Growers’ Association (OFVGA) has urged the government to balance the needs of profitable farming and food production with its objectives to address Ontario’s affordable housing shortage.

I’m an apple grower in the Georgian Bay area and this file carries personal relevance for me as I’ve seen first-hand the loss of prime food-producing land to sprawling housing developments in our region. I serve as chair of the OFVGA’s Property, Infrastructure, Energy and Food Safety section, and our committee worked closely with OFVGA staff and the board to develop our sector’s response to the PPS, which we submitted to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing in August 2023.  

For the fruit and vegetable sector, key priorities include building sufficient and high-quality housing for temporary farm workers and maintaining existing specialty and prime agricultural lands. The need for on-farm housing of temporary foreign farm workers is not new. That’s because in most cases, these programs require that farm employers provide housing for the workers and historically, this housing has been located on-farm for worker convenience and farm efficiency.

Now, as farms are growing larger and the regulatory environment for building new on-farm worker housing becomes more complex, farm employers are increasingly turning to residential homes in nearby communities to meet their housing needs.

Current obstacles to efficient use of on-farm housing include lengthy permitting processes, inconsistent classification by municipalities and the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation, and requirements for costly Environmental Compliance Approvals for larger septic systems.

Addressing these obstacles would contribute to reduced housing pressures in surrounding communities, and OFVGA has indicated we’re willing to work with the provincial government on finding solutions to these challenges. We also support the creation of an on-farm housing working group to delve into our sector’s unique challenges.

The PPS also proposed changes that could ultimately reduce protections for specialty crop lands, which we do not support. More than any other agricultural sector, edible horticulture needs access to specialty land with specific and unique features, such as microclimates, or specific soil types to grow high-value, sensitive fruit and vegetable crops.

Currently, not all land suitable for this type of production is deemed “specialty crop land” or protected through the Greenbelt or the Niagara Escarpment and should be considered for its potential value in producing fruits and vegetables before allowing other development to occur.

These protections are even more important now that Ontario’s new Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Paul Calandra, has promised a full review of Greenbelt lands, including the possibility of opening up even more of it to development.

Farmland in Ontario is a key pillar of protecting and maintaining our food supply. As the climate changes and the world grapples with ongoing geopolitical turmoil, maintaining our ability to grow as much of our own food as possible has never been more important.

Except for greenhouse vegetables, Ontario is not a net exporter of fruits and vegetables. Quite the opposite. In fact, in many crops, we depend on imports as we don’t currently have the local capacity to produce what we need to meet Ontario consumer needs.

In onions, for example, we can only grow enough to cover about three-quarters of domestic consumption. Asparagus are at about two-thirds, apples are at less than two- thirds, and watermelons meet less than half of our domestic consumption needs.

We support the Ontario government’s Grow Ontario strategy to strengthen our agri-food sector, and provincial policy such as the PPS, if crafted carefully, can help bolster our sector to feed Canadians, increase exports, and further contribute to a healthy economy. We welcome the opportunity to work with government and be part of the process to find workable solutions.  

Brian Gilroy is chair, Property, Infrastructure, Energy and Food Safety Section for the Ontario Fruit & Vegetable Growers’ Association.