Ontario’s Greenbelt should be treated as a strategic pillar of food security and economic growth, according to a new report released by the Greenbelt Foundation.
Released earlier this week, the study says the protected area in the Greater Golden Horseshoe is uniquely positioned to help Ontario weather growing uncertainty tied to global trade disruptions, climate pressures and food production risks.
The report, Ontario’s Greenbelt: The Key to Food Security in the Greater Golden Horseshoe, was prepared by the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute as part of the foundation’s Visioning the Future of the Greenbelt series. It argues that although Canada is the world’s second-largest country by landmass, it does not rank among the top countries for arable farmland, making productive land in southern Ontario especially valuable.
The Greenbelt is described as a rare combination of high-quality farmland, established farm networks, nearby food-processing capacity and direct access to Canada’s largest consumer market. That mix, the report says, makes it both a domestic food security asset and an important trade corridor.
Ontario’s agri-food sector contributed more than $50 billion to the provincial economy in 2024 and accounted for one-third of Canada’s total agri-food GDP, the report said. Within that system, the Greenbelt plays an outsized role. Farms in the region generate 68% more revenue per acre than the Ontario average, reflecting the concentration of high-value production that includes beef cattle, oilseeds, fruits and vegetables.
The report said the Greenbelt’s agriculture and agri-food system generated $4.1 billion in GDP and supported 58,840 jobs in 2020. In addition, 60% of Ontario’s more than 5,000 food and beverage manufacturing establishments are located near the Greenbelt.
The report calls for Ontario to develop an agriculture and agri-food strategy built around the Greenbelt, while maintaining strong land protections, improving coordination among planners and stakeholders, investing in infrastructure and innovation, and supporting farm succession to provide long-term business certainty.
The full report can be seen here:
https://greenbelt.ca/research-report/key-to-food-security/
