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Bill 21, Protect Our Food Act, 2025

Schreiner, Mike

Brady, Bobbi Ann

Current status:

First Reading Ordered for Second Reading

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Bill 21 Original (PDF)

EXPLANATORY

NOTE

The

Bill enacts the Protect our Food Act, 2025 .

The

Bill establishes the Foodbelt Protection Plan Advisory Committee. The

Committee’s function is to make recommendations for a Foodbelt Protection Plan

that would ensure the preservation and enhancement of a geographically

continuous land base.

The

Bill also amends the Planning Act with respect to

land that is zoned for prescribed agricultural uses. The Bill provides that the

land cannot be rezoned, and the uses permitted on the land cannot be changed,

unless an Agricultural Impact Assessment has been carried out. The restriction applies

to a municipality passing a zoning by-law and to the Minister making a

Minister’s Zoning Order.

Bill 21 2025

Act to establish the Foodbelt Protection Plan Advisory Committee and amend the

Planning Act to protect agricultural land

His

Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the

Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Foodbelt

Protection Plan Advisory Committee

(1) An advisory committee is established under

consultatif sur le plan de protection de la ceinture alimentaire in French.

Composition

(2) The

Committee shall be composed of members appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in

Council from the following groups:

1. Farmers.

2. Agricultural

experts.

3. Soil

scientists.

4. Professional

planners.

5. Food

and agricultural organizations.

Deadline

(3) The

Lieutenant Governor in Council shall appoint the members of the Committee

within 60 days after the day this Act receives Royal Assent.

Functions

(4) The

Committee shall develop recommendations for a Foodbelt Protection Plan that

would ensure the preservation and enhancement of a geographically continuous

agricultural land base, including recommendations respecting each of the

following matters:

1. The

identification of farmland that will be included in the Foodbelt so that a

geographically continuous agricultural land base can be preserved.

2. Protections

for farmland in the Foodbelt from conversion to non-farm uses by prohibiting or

restricting development.

3. Exceptions

from the protections in the Foodbelt Protection Plan, such as for the sale of local

agricultural goods, public health services, agritourism, education or on-farm

processing of agricultural products.

4. Measures

to reduce land speculation in the Foodbelt, which may include promoting the use

of land trusts or succession planning.

5. Setting

goals for the enhancement and protection of land and soil health in the

Foodbelt and strategies for implementation.

6. The

restriction of aggregate extraction in agricultural areas in the Foodbelt.

7. Any

additional protections for farmland in the Foodbelt.

Consultation

(5) In

developing its recommendations, the Committee shall consult broadly with the entire

agricultural community and ensure that any recommended restrictions in the Foodbelt

Protection Plan reflect the needs and challenges faced by the community.

Report

(6) The

Committee shall prepare and publish a report setting out its recommendations

with respect to the matters referred to in subsection (4) within 12 months after

the day this Act receives Royal Assent.

Same

(7) The

Committee shall make the report publicly available on a website of the

Government of Ontario and shall send it to the Minister of Agriculture, Food

and Agribusiness.

Report

on implementation of recommendations

(8) On

or before the day that is 60 days after the day the Minister of Agriculture,

Food and Agribusiness receives the Committee’s report under subsection (7), the

Minister of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness shall report to the Assembly on

the progress the Government of Ontario has made in implementing the Committee’s

recommendations.

Assembly not in session

(9) For

the purposes of subsection (8), if the Assembly is not in session at the end of

the 60-day period, the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness shall

table the report as early as possible in the next session.

Planning

Act

Part V of the Planning Act is amended by adding the

following section:

Agricultural

Impact Assessment

Application

33.1

(1) This

section applies with respect to land that was zoned for prescribed agricultural

uses as of the day the Protect Our Food Act, 2025 came

into force.

Restriction

on change to zoning by-law

(2) Despite

anything in this Part, the council of a local municipality shall not pass a

zoning by-law that purports to change the uses permitted on the land or the

zoning of the land itself unless an Agricultural Impact Assessment has been

carried out in accordance with the regulations.

Restriction

on Minister’s zoning order

(3) Despite

anything in this Part, the Minister shall not make an order under

section 34.1

or 47 that purports to change the uses permitted on the land or the zoning of

the land itself unless an Agricultural Impact Assessment has been carried out

in accordance with the regulations.

Subsection 70 (1) of the Act is amended by adding the following clause:

(

b) for

the purposes of

section 33.1,

(

i) prescribing

agricultural uses, and

(ii) governing

Agricultural Impact Assessments;

Commencement

This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short

title

The

short title of this Act is the Protect Our Food Act,

2025 .

Date Bill stage Event Outcome Committee

May 13, 2025

First Reading

Ordered for Second Reading

May 13, 2025

First Reading

Vote

Carried

First Reading

May 13, 2025

Carried

Ordered for Second Reading