How Ontario’s Growing Greenbelt is Raising GTA Condo Prices
The Greater Golden Horseshoe area in Southern Ontario is the country’s fastest-growing urban region. With the recently proposed expansion of the province’s Greenbelt, the urban centres in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area can expect to become more dense and expensive in the years to come.
In May of 2016, the Ontario Government released a proposed changes to the Greenbelt Plan. A map highlighting the newly proposed changes can be found here. In it, we see the government’s plan to increase to expand the greenbelt into 28 urban river valleys and wetlands.
The Province is looking to add four new significant expansions to the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, the Greenbelt Plan, the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan and the Niagara Escarpment Plan. These changes plan to:
- Protect clean water by adding the lands within 21 major urban river valleys to the Greenbelt, along with seven coastal wetlands, and establish a process for further expanding the Greenbelt to protect key water features
- Require zoning along transit corridors to provide adequate density to support transit
- Establish Greenbelt-level protections for natural heritage systems – such as wetlands, woodlands and rivers – beyond the Greenbelt, with the provincial government taking a lead in mapping those areas
- Support agricultural viability and preserve farmland by setting strict requirements for the expansion of urban areas and allowing more flexibility for agricultural use in the Greenbelt
- Require municipalities in the Greater Golden Horseshoe to integrate climate change policies into municipal official plans and to conduct climate change vulnerability risk assessments when they are planning or replacing infrastructure.
When Ontario’s Greenbelt legislation passed in 2005, the Government of Ontario took a major step in protecting the green space, farmland, forests, wetlands, and watersheds throughout Southern Ontario. The plan has expanded to 1.8-million-acres of protected farmland and green space, wrapping around the major cities and towns in the Greater Golden Horseshoe area.
Facts about Ontario’s Greenbelt
- Currently, the Greenbelt covers 1.8 million acres of land or 7.2 square kilometres.
- Roughly 9 out of every 10 Ontarians agree that the Greenbelt is one of the most important contributions to the future of the province.
- The Greater Golden Horseshoe is forecasted to grow by around 4 million more people over the next 25 years and will be home to more than 13.5 million people.
The Impact of the Growing Greenbelt on Toronto’s Urban Centres
As the local Government’s continues its efforts to expand the greenbelt, the urban sprawl from Ontario’s major urban centres continues to stall. With 100,000 people coming to the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area every year, urban areas will see much densification in the coming years.
Immediately after the proposed changes were announced, Brian Tuckey of the Ontario Home Builders Association (OHBA) issued the following statement, “This announcement means that you’re going to see more intensification, more condos, less choice and higher prices.”
To support this statement, the average price of a new condo in the GTA in 2006 was slightly lower than $300,000 and has since increased to $459,000. The amendments highlighted in the newly proposed Growth Plan are expected to see existing communities in the Greater Golden Horseshoe increase from 40 to 60 per cent. Simply put,
Larger Greenbelt = Urban Densification = Higher Home and Condo Prices.
The Future of Toronto’s Toronto Communities
As urban densification continues to intensify in the GTA, we can expect to see the Toronto Skyline continue to fill with cranes and taller condominiums. Soon, the city will be expecting the completion of the One Condo Tower that is poised to become the tallest residential tower in Canada in Toronto’s Yorkville district.
With the population and property values consistently on the rise, now is the right time to invest in a hot new Toronto condominium project. We urge you to browse through our interactive condo listing map to take advantage of the growing demand for condos in the GTA.
