Ontario's Long-Term Vision

"Recent amendments and additions to the legislative framework of the province mean that the rules governing planning have been rewritten. On paper at least, the bad old days of endless sprawl are over, replaced by a new regime that values higher density and higher quality development. It will take time before the results of the changes are visible, but they will happen."

"'It's a 25-year plan,' says David Caplan, Ontario's minister of public infrastructure renewal. 'What we have put in place is a blueprint for how we're going to grow over the next few decades. The first thing we've done is say where you don't want growth to happen – that's absolutely critical – then we've said where we do want it to grow.'"

"'We want to make it so you don't have to get into your car for two or three hours daily to go to work or to shop,' Caplan explains. 'Many people have told us this should have happened 20 years ago. We're going to be living a little closer together. It's about greening as well as growth.'"