Last month, Premier Doug Ford apologized to Ontarians and walked back the government's decision to remove 2,995 hectares of protected land from the Greenbelt to pave the way for housing development. Now, legal experts are saying developers could have legal recourse.Ontario Premier Doug Ford announces that he will be reversing his government’s decision to open the Greenbelt to developers during a press conference in Niagara Falls, Ont., Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023.
"I don't think apologies go far enough. I think developers are interested in making money and building homes. That's what they're there to do," said Gilbert, managing partner at Gilbert's Law. For instance, in 2017, Flato Developments spent $15 million on just over 41 hectares of farmland outside of Markham, Ont. Property. Corporate records show the company then sold about 29.5 hectares of that land to yet another development company, Torca UMV Inc., in April 2022 for $62 million.
Ford sidestepped questions last month about what the legal ramifications of the reversal might be, but Gilbert said he can see the government justify not paying anything by leaning into the fact that not much development has happened yet. But developers could argue the Greenbelt land swap and building expectations were misrepresented by the provincial government, said Sarah Turney, an expert in property and development litigation and partner at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP.