The Orbit - Innisfil

A giant development proposed along the GO Train line in Innisfil. This mega-project is slated to pave over farmland and radically change how Innisfil grows for decades to come. It will also place a great burden on nearby Lake Simcoe.

What's Happening?

Update August 9, 2021: MZO order issued by province; Development proceeding.

In Innisfil, the proponent of a controversial development, The Orbit, has successfully sought backing from council to seek a Minister’s Zoning Order, or MZO, from the province.

If the province grants this request the developer gets a short cut through rules meant to ensure the public is consulted, environmental impacts are studied, and financial consequences understood.

Issuing a MZO effectively eliminates public input and reduces oversight into the net benefit of a development.

Innisfil council should affirm the principle that the voice of residents – your voice – matters when its comes to how their community develops, and require developers to follow the rules in place without any shortcuts.

Quick Facts

150,000 People

Paving Over Farmland

≠ Urban Growth Centre

Why is it a concern?

The Orbit is a concern, and should be given due process and careful consideration, given its size, scale, and location.
A map view of where The Orbit is proposed to be built. Natural features are overlaid.
A map view of where The Orbit, outlined in white, is proposed to be built. Natural features are overlaid. Click for a larger version.
On paper it seems great — a development focused on high density living, where people are close to amenities, including public transportation to major urban centres.
 
The glaring question, however, is why here — why should a development for 150,000 additional people be located in what is currently a largely rural area?
 
It seems the only reason this location is being pushed is the developer owns the land and wants to turn a profit, otherwise it makes absolutely no sense.
 
Given these concerns, this request for a MZO can be seen as an attempt to avoid uncomfortable questions that might be raised by going through due process and engaging in public consultation.
 
If a development is a net benefit to the community then developers can easily demonstrate that by engaging with those who it will most impact, namely the public and residents of the community.
 
We need more public engagement and participation in determining how our communities develop, not less.

How Can You Get Involved?

  1. Use our MZO action page to tell elected representatives of your concerns regarding their use.
  2. Write a letter to local papers outlining your concern with the development.
  3. Use our sign up form, below, to get updates on environmental issues, including The Orbit, happening in Innisfil.

Links to Further Reading

Help us fight MZO requests.
Send a message to your council and MPP, and report MZOs in your community.
Click Here

Related Content

Aerial view of red fall leaves, a lake, and cottages on the shore. Photo by Derek Sutton on Unsplash
Letter

The Year That Was: 2023

Our approach to our work has always been how we can make an impact in long-lasting and effective ways.  We hold ourselves to high standards — how can we create better rules, better systems and better communities? 

Internally, that means we reflect to ensure that we’re putting our values into practice. This year, we decided to adopt a different way to assess our impact. 

Read More »
Events

Gather For The Greenbelt

Corporate sponsorship opportunities for the “Gather for the Greenbelt” event in Barrie, Ontario, featuring in-person storytelling from Margaret Atwood, special guests Sarah Harmer, Jeff Monague, and poetry from Barrie’s Poet Laureate, Tyneisha Thomas.

Art installation by Rochelle Rubinstein will be featured, as well.

Read More »
Photo of a field with a sunset in the distance. There's a tree branch overhead near the photography, and a partial treeline on the left in the distance. The field is bright green grass, and the sky is rich yellow, orange, and blue hues. Credit Benjamin Davies.
Letter

Public Letter – Local MPPs Accountable for Greenbelt Scandal

Dear MPP Downey, MPP Dunlop and MPP Mulroney,

In December of 2022, you and your cabinet colleagues signed off on removal of 7400 acres of Greenbelt lands.

Thanks to a thorough investigation by the Auditor General the public now knows that the process that led to your approval of Greenbelt takeouts was “biased” and gave “preferential treatment” to a select few developers…

Read More »

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

We send out a once-monthly newsletter full of information on what’s happening in Simcoe County and beyond, including information on how you can take action to protect the health of your community.

Innisfil Community Mapping Project

Community led planning to ensure Innisfil’s natural heritage systems remain strong far into the future.

Table of Contents

With the support of the Greenbelt Foundation, the Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition analyzed and mapped environmental policies across Simcoe County and the Lake Simcoe watershed landscape.

Following this research, in February 2020 the Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition hosted an event at Innisfil’s incredible IdeaLab and Library. This was attended by Innisfil residents, including some members of Council, the MPP for the area, Andrea Khanjin, and members of the Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition’s Innisfil member groups, including the Innisfil District Association and Innisfree Ltd. 

Citizens and elected leaders collaborating on the mapping project.

Participants discussed how to keep Innisfil’s natural heritage strong and connected into the future.

What we found

Only 14% of Simcoe County’s landscape fell into our “best protected by environmental policy” category; in the Lake Simcoe watershed, that percentage rose to twenty one. More of the areas’ natural heritage needs strong policy protection in order to create a robust and connected Natural Heritage System. The full reports can be accessed via the “Our Work” page, or by searching for “Reports”.

Why protect Natural Heritage?

We need an intact ecosystem complete with forests and wetlands in order to protect biodiversity and good water quality. But a healthy environment also supports healthy people and local economies.

Community members participating in the mapping exercise.

In the Lake Simcoe watershed a quality ecosystem supports the $420 million / year sustainable recreation sector, and delivers millions in ecosystem services like clean water, flood control, climate regulation and water filtration. 

Lake Simcoe Protection Plan’s High Quality Natural Cover Target

The Lake Simcoe Protection Plan includes a target of 40% high quality natural cover (HQNC) in the Lake Simcoe watershed, but no policies specifically support this target. Today, 28% of the Lake Simcoe watershed qualifies as HQNC but only half of that area is well protected by strong natural heritage policies that do not permit land use changes.

Greater efforts at the municipal level can increase the size and protections given to areas of High Quality Natural Cover, and improve on the identification and protection of other natural features that protect our environment and way of life. The 2020 provincial review of the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan is an opportunity to express the need for better protection of High Quality Natural Cover.

Innisfil Community Mapping

In February 2020 the Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition hosted an event at Innisfil’s incredible IdeaLab and Library attended by Innisfil residents including some members of Council and the MPP for the area, and members of the Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition’s Innisfil member groups the Innisfil District Association and Innisfree Ltd., for a lively discussion about how to keep Innisfil’s natural heritage strong and connected into the future.

Level of Environmental Policy Protection in Innisfil and Community Comments

This maps shows the result of the participatory mapping exercise noted above.

Results of natural heritage and environment community mapping in Innisfil,, Ontario
Results of natural heritage and environment community mapping in Innisfil,, Ontario. Click to open interactive map.

Recommendations for a municipal action plan to address community comments

Summary of Aims

  • Increase woodland cover to 40% +
  • No loss of wetlands
  • Increase wetland cover to 20% +
  • Focus restoration efforts around protected areas to increase the patch size of the feature.

1. Natural Heritage System

  • We encourage all of the municipalities in the Lake Simcoe watershed to adopt the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority’s Natural Heritage System and Strategy. If their NHS’s recommended remediation and tree planting work were completed, then up to 60% of the Lake Simcoe watershed would be in some form of natural cover. 
  • Map Ontario’s Growth Plan Natural Heritage System and incorporate the associated policies into Innisfil’s Official Plans within the identified time-frame. Once implemented, they will offer the best protection yet for natural heritage features and in particular for the linkage features between the features.

2. Wetlands

  • Develop a plan to achieve the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan’s target: No loss of wetlands.
  • Working with Conservation Authorities, increase wetland cover to 20%. 
  • Develop a plan to evaluate, map and protect accordingly, ALL of the unevaluated wetlands in Innisfil. 

3. Forests and High Quality Natural Cover

Due to the significance of patch size, it is of utmost importance to protect and maintain the 25 hectare patches mapped by the province as “High Quality Natural Cover” (HQNC) using the following steps:  

  • Identify and ground truth the quality of the natural features.
  • The Ministry of Natural Resources and the LSRCA along with municipalities need to map all known forest patches, then categorize by the 4 hectare (south) and 10 hectare (north) thresholds of the province’s “Technical Definitions and Criteria for Identifying Key Natural Heritage Features and Key Hydrologic Features for the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan”. Any woodlands below these thresholds should then be recommended for evaluation to see if they meet the density/crown cover metrics of the technical guide.
  • Municipalities and Upper tier Region or County put the natural features in Official Plans (maps, policies, technical definitions, and supportive lower-tier zoning). 
  • Support non-policy initiatives and land trusts that protect features within the 25 hectare patches that do not meet the criteria for strong policy protection. 
  • Enact an interim control bylaw to protect the mapped High Quality Natural Cover parcels of 25 hectare plus from rezoning or land use changes until the province’s HQNC research is complete.
Facebook
Twitter
Facebook

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

We send out a once-monthly newsletter full of information on what’s happening in Simcoe County and beyond, including information on how you can take action to protect the health of your community.

Hi there!


Use this form to send an email to our general inquiries address.

Photo of a giraffe's head against a clear blue sky. Credit Gary Bendig.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Hi there!

Use this form to send Margaret an email.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Hi there!


Use this form to send Adam an email.

Adam-2

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Hi there!


Use this form to send Julie an email.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for signing up!

Become part of our network. Stay informed. Take action. Protect Ontario.

Friends. Online censorship by unaccountable tech companies, combined with an all-out assault on the Greenbelt by Ontario’s developers/government, make this a perilous time for the future of democracy and the power of the people in Ontario.

We need to build new ways of empowering those who believe in accountability, in a healthy environment, and in communities ready to thrive in the economy of tomorrow.

Join our supporter network and stay informed about efforts and actions to protect the Greenbelt, to build communities that support the health and well-being of people, and to lay the foundations of a resilient, climate friendly future.