The Greenbelt permanently protects precious lands and supports a healthier environment for all Ontarians.
By protecting 1.8 million acres of sensitive land from development, the Greenbelt protects the water we drink and the air we breathe. It also means that farmers can continue to grow the food we eat closer to home.
Ontarians and visitors alike enjoy the Greenbelt’s many recreation opportunities, including its trails and parklands.
Growing the Greenbelt
In February 2007, the Greenbelt Council recommended that the government develop criteria to determine areas of the countryside where the Greenbelt could be extended. The Ministry has drafted criteria with which to consider requests from municipalities to expand the Greenbelt. Staff are now working on finalizing criteria based on what was heard during consultation.
- Protecting the Greenbelt: Greenbelt Act, 2005The Greenbelt Act, 2005
enables the creation of a Greenbelt
Plan to protect about 1.8 million
acres of environmentally sensitive
and agricultural land in the Golden
Horseshoe from urban
development and sprawl.
- Protecting the Greenbelt: The Greenbelt PlanGreenbelt plan (policies) and
information related to building a
greenbelt
- Greenbelt MapsGreenbelt maps, including detailed
mapping of smaller geographic
areas of the Greenbelt Plan area
and maps of the Plan
of the Boundary of the Protected
Countryside
- Greenbelt CouncilThe Greenbelt Council is a
provincial advisory agency
established under the Greenbelt
Act, 2005 to provide the Minister of
Municipal Affairs and Housing with
advice on the Greenbelt.
- Growing the Greenbelt
- Growing the Greenbelt - Consultation WorkshopsConsultation workshops provided the opportunity for municipalities, organizations and the public to discuss and provide feed back on the draft criteria that the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing will use, once they are finalized, to consider municipal requests to expand the Greenbelt.
- Greenbelt Task Force Advice and RecommendationsTopics such as the environment, transportation, agriculture, tourism and recreation, and natural resources were discussed during the 2004 Greenbelt Consultation.
- Greenbelt Hiking TrailsInformation about hiking trails in
the Greenbelt.
- BackgroundGeneral information about the
history of the Greenbelt.
- The Oak Ridges MoraineThe Oak Ridges Moraine is an environmentally sensitive geological landform in south central Ontario, covering 190,000 hectares.
- NewsroomThe latest news items on greenbelt
protection.
- ArchiveGreenbelt Task Force
advice and recommendations,
building a Greenbelt, Greenbelt
consultation and process, public
meetings...