Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA)
The Ontario government's newly introduced Bill 97 and Proposed Provincial Planning Statement will weaken farmland protections by allowing up to three lot severances per farm parcel in prime agricultural areas province-wide for residential, non-farm uses, in addition to weakening important protections for specialty crop areas.
This legislation will have an impact on all Ontario farmers now and in the future, including:
•Fragmenting and permanently removing farmland from productive agricultural use
•Limiting farm business growth
•Inflating farmland prices
•Creating conflict with non-farming residential neighbours
•Adding significant new burden to already stretched municipal and regional services and service providers
•Impacting Minimum Distance Separation (MDS) Standards
The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA), the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario (CFFO), and the National Farmers Union – Ontario (NFU-O), along with numerous commodity and agricultural organizations, are united in their opposition to Bill 97 and the Proposed Provincial Planning Statement.
The provincial government wants to hear from individual farmers by June 5th, 2023.
Your voice is needed to tell the government that farmland must be protected for farming – to ensure agriculture's current and future value to the province's economy, to our long-term food security, and to long-term, vibrant rural communities.
Together, OFA, CFFO and NFU-O are asking you to personally tell provincial political leaders that removing farmland protections in the Proposed Provincial Planning Statement is short-sighted and will undermine your work in contributing to the provincial economy, your rural community and protecting our local and long term food security.
Use our Act Now tool on our website at https://actnow.ofa.on.ca/ to communicate your concerns to your local MPP.