Special Protection for Ontario Food Terminal for Decades to Come

The Voice of Canada News

The Ontario government is protecting jobs by naming the Ontario Food Terminal lands as a Provincially Significant Employment Zone — an identification that protects lands that are critically important both locally and to the province for jobs and economic growth.

Steve Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, made the announcement with Ernie Hardeman, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, and Christine Hogarth, Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Etobicoke-Lakeshore.

“The Ontario Food Terminal is a key provincial economic hub,” said Minister Clark. “I know many jobs rely on the terminal’s success, including farmers, distributors, retailers, grocers and many more.”

Provincially Significant Employment Zone lands that are designated as employment areas in official plans cannot be changed from employment uses without provincial approval.

“The Food Terminal’s strength is that it provides a central marketplace for all the good things that grow in Ontario,” said Minister Hardeman. “Recognizing the Ontario Food Terminal lands as a Provincially Significant Employment Zone will help protect its role as a key economic driver in our agriculture sector.”

“Designating the Ontario Food Terminal as a Provincially Significant Employment Zone will help ensure its long-term viability and certainty,” said Steve Bamford, Vice-President of the Toronto Wholesale Produce Association. “Committing to the Food Terminal at its current location and as an employment zone will help everyone at the Terminal prosper and grow.”