Race for Space: Why Employment Lands Are Essential for Toronto's Future

The Board’s Race for Space: Navigating Toronto's Employment Lands Crisis event should serve as a wake-up call for leaders across the Toronto region. We need certainty around employment lands. These lands don’t just provide spaces for industry—they anchor our economy with good-paying jobs.

We are at an inflection point. As Ontario grows at an unprecedented pace, the pressure to prioritize housing above all else is putting our employment lands at risk. These lands are critical to the advanced manufacturing, logistics, and industrial operations that drive the national economy. Once converted to residential use, they’re gone forever.

Speakers like Chris Barnett, Partner, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, sounded the alarm: “You can’t win the race if the rules keep changing and the finish line keeps moving. Certainty around land use is essential.” Angel Chacon, Eastern Canada Operations Manager, Fuels Operations at Imperial, agreed that policymakers must “bring certainty into protecting industrial lands.” Karen Chapple, Director, School of Cities, University of Toronto emphasized the economic stakes: “This is an existential crisis... we’re selling away our future. Housing doesn’t drive economies, jobs do.”

the Toronto region faces a luming land use crisis how we resolve it will'll set Canada's largest urban region and the entire and the engine of the national economy up for success or failure in the decades to come if the Toronto region wants to be able to compete globally in that race for space the policies that we see from the provincial government will be key and there needs to be that certainty because the lack of certainty that your investment in Ontario is not going to be subject to another piece of legislation that reverses a previous piece of legislation is really important um we have a province that's using preemption um but it's only thinking about housing it's not thinking about jobs we need a province that thinks about both yes we need homes but people need well-paying jobs to buy homes and this is where people work uh and so for us this issue is important because it means our growth but more importantly it also means the economic growth of the region what we're trying to do is is protect our employment lands how can heavy industry exists with Light Industry exist with multi-residential and if this continues then the whole circular economy this starts to fall apart in which case then why don't we move some box plants down to the States why don't we put our next paper mill in the states and then we very much become a US company not an Ontario one speaking to some of our advisers have been in the field for a long time 20 30 years in this market they will tell you that it's been well known to be difficult to develop and operate in this in this region but we were cheap previously but unfortunately now we've gone from difficult and cheap to difficult and expensive which is a real concern for our Competitive Edge them life gets more expensive if you push your jobs out to the periphery right it's more expensive for everyone goods and services become much more expensive to procure yeah AB absolutely uh if there was one thing that you know we could do we meaning policy makers or government could do to make things better for your company and support your operations what would it be bring certainty uh into into protecting industrial lands I think the further that we can do that the better that way we can do to help manage some of the challenges advocate for our position um bring forth competitive uh opportunities to grow expand our business so we have certainty into the political landscape uh for for industrial land use well I I would Echo the word that I've heard so many times which is certainty and uh you know companies need certainty to plan for the future and you can't plan two three five years out and many times you have to plan 20 or 50 years out and that means that you need to have governments that are there for you and that know make sure that they enforce the rules that are in place and that they they don't just change all the time and so we need certainty

The Stakes Couldn’t Be Higher

A National Engine of Growth: Employment lands around Pearson Airport represent the largest concentration of industrial activity in North America. Over 500,000 jobs—1 in 7 across the GTA—are tied to this area, which is unmatched for its economic impact.
Looming Threats: Eric Carrier, CFO, Mondelez Canada highlighted the growing gap between Canada and the U.S. “High land costs, soaring development charges, and delays in approvals are making U.S. sites more attractive.”
Policy Urgency: Paul Doyle, CFO, Atlantic Packaging reinforced the need for balance. “Yes, housing is a priority, but not at the expense of employment lands. Without these lands, we lose the very foundation of our economy.”
Escalating Costs: Construction costs have doubled since 2016 and are up 40% since 2021, with industrial land prices now six times what they were in 2003. These rising costs are straining the viability of industrial development and driving companies to look elsewhere.

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An overhead shot of the GTA West Economic Gateway

The Race for Space

Find out why securing our employment lands is vital to our region’s economic future

Challenges Ahead

As Jon Ramscar, CEO of CBRE Canada and Founding Executive Table Member of the Business Council of Toronto noted, the Toronto region is North America’s fourth-largest industrial market, just behind Los Angeles, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Chicago, yet we’re falling behind, “Speaking to advisors who’ve been in the field for decades, they’ll tell you this region has long been known as difficult to develop and operate in,” Ramscar explained, “But we were cheap previously. Unfortunately, we’ve now gone from difficult and cheap to difficult and expensive, which is a real concern for our competitive edge.” Ramscar also pointed out it now takes twice as long to secure development permits here as in competing markets—a major red flag for global investors.

A recurring theme throughout the day was: certainty is key. Businesses need predictability to invest, expand, and grow. Chapple summed it up: “We need urgency from the province to ensure the response to the housing crisis doesn’t come at the expense of jobs. When employment lands disappear, they’re not coming back.”

The Road Ahead

Housing and employment can’t be framed as competing interests—they must coexist. Leaders across government, business, and the community need to protect and intensify employment lands, ensuring they remain viable for decades to come.

The Toronto region has the potential to be a global economic superpower. But achieving that vision requires bold leadership, coordinated action, and a commitment to safeguarding the jobs and industries that form the backbone of our economy.

Now is the time to act—and the stakes couldn’t be higher.

Symposium Partner

Thank you to our partners:

Imperial Oil

Host Partners

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