Support for Minister’s Zoning Order (MZO) to Maintain Lands in the City of Toronto as Employment Lands to Protect the Ontario Food Terminal - by Councillor Amber Morley, seconded by Mayor Olivia Chow

The Ontario Food Terminal Board, with the support of the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness, has requested an Minister's Zoning Order in order to safeguard the continued operational viability of the Ontario Food Terminal. The site is directly adjacent to the Ontario Food Terminal, a key employer in Toronto's west end that supports 2,500 direct jobs and contributes to the employment of approximately 168,000 people indirectly, including farm workers and the operations of 5,000 registered buyers. Currently the Site is occupied by a retail and commercial plaza with surface parking. An application was submitted on March 28, 2025 to redesignate the Site from General Employment Areas to Mixed Use Areas to permit residential uses. On October 30, 2025, the application was appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal due to Council not making a decision within the timeframe prescribed in the Planning Act. The proposed Minister's Zoning Order is consistent with City Council's February 4, 2026, adoption of an appeal report (PH27.11) for 125 The Queensway, which recommends that the City Solicitor and appropriate City staff attend the Ontario Land Tribunal hearing to oppose the current application. The Ontario Food Terminal is a critical distribution centre for independent grocers across the Greater Toronto Area and plays an essential role in maintaining food security. Allowing residential uses near the site could lead to complaints, constrain operations, and create a precedent that threatens the long-term viability of the Ontario Food Terminal. Maintaining the employment use of the Site will help ensure stability for the terminal and protect the significant economic and community benefits it provides to Toronto and the surrounding region. More broadly, maintaining the employment use of the Site supports the City's policy framework for Employment Areas and helps avoid land use conflicts that could constrain existing operations. Bringing Official Plan Amendment 804 into force would further strengthen this framework and provide greater certainty for the long-term protection of employment lands across the city, including sites experiencing conversion pressures.

the Province to bring Official Plan Amendment 804 into force to align the City's employment area policies with the provincial policy framework and provide greater certainty for the protection of employment lands.