THE TRANSPORT CANADA CONSULTATION IS NOW CLOSED.
The “What We Heard” report was published on Friday, September 4, 2026: https://tc.canada.ca/en/initiatives/pickering-lands
See our submissions here:
Submission #1 on behalf of Land Over Landings
Submission #2 on behalf of Bring Back Brougham
You can still send an email to your Member of Parliament to reinforce the position that ALL of the Pickering Lands should be added to the Rouge National Urban Park.
Copy the following elected leaders, plus your own MP (find your MP here): pm@pm.gc.ca, juanita.nathan@parl.gc.ca, Anita.Anand@parl.gc.ca, gary.anand@parl.gc.ca, ministre-minister@ec.gc.ca, aafc.minister-ministre.aac@agr.gc.ca, tc.ministeroftransport-ministredestransports.tc@tc.gc.ca, lawrence.hanson@agr.gc.ca, jennifer.mckelvie@parl.gc.ca, Ryan.Turnbull@parl.gc.ca, Helena.Jaczek@parl.gc.ca, fares.alsoud@parl.gc.ca, jacob.mantle@parl.gc.ca, Steven.Guilbeault@parl.gc.ca, landoverlanding@gmail.com
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We’re calling on you to send – before April 17 – an email submission to Transport Canada’s “Public Consultation on the Future Uses of the Pickering Lands“ (use this as your subject line) and copy your MP, and those elected leaders listed below.
We know this feels a bit like “Groundhog Day.” You thought the work to fully expand Rouge National Urban Park was already complete. So did we – for a time. We’re now being told by Transport Canada and Parks Canada representatives: “new government, new priorities.” Their public consultation is inviting submissions on urban development as well. Yes, you read that right.
At a time when the world is threatened by geopolitical and climate instability, Canada needs to conserve its natural assets for our collective well-being. The last thing we need is a decision that squanders the lands that feed us, cool us, sequester our carbon emissions, and support our mental and physical health.
As our Agricultural Study, A Future for the Lands, states (p. 56): “The Subject Lands are at the intersection of nature, culture, agriculture and history. It is the combination of these factors that gives them their worth and value. Focusing on the economic aspect alone presents a truncated and distorted picture of their contributions. Their environmental, historical, cultural and natural attributes bestow value on these Lands far in excess of their economic worth.”
Submit feedback:
1 – Fill out an anonymous online survey. Visit our GUIDE for help completing the survey to prioritize agricultural priorities.
2 – Send your comments by email to Pickering@tc.gc.ca Use “Consultation – Future uses of the Pickering Lands” for the subject line.
Or, mail your comments via Canada Post to:
Attention: Consultation – Future uses of the Pickering Lands
Transport Canada
4900 Yonge St
Toronto, ON M2N 6A5
Copy the following elected leaders, plus your own MP (find your MP here), on your email to Transport Canada: pm@pm.gc.ca, juanita.nathan@parl.gc.ca, Anita.Anand@parl.gc.ca, gary.anand@parl.gc.ca, ministre-minister@ec.gc.ca, aafc.minister-ministre.aac@agr.gc.ca, tc.ministeroftransport-ministredestransports.tc@tc.gc.ca, lawrence.hanson@agr.gc.ca, jennifer.mckelvie@parl.gc.ca, Ryan.Turnbull@parl.gc.ca, Helena.Jaczek@parl.gc.ca, fares.alsoud@parl.gc.ca, jacob.mantle@parl.gc.ca, Steven.Guilbeault@parl.gc.ca, landoverlanding@gmail.com
Consultation coordinators have committed to reviewing, recording, and tallying every submission received. All of us who want the government to protect and not destroy this green oasis must make our thousands of voices heard. It will be our last opportunity to save this precious farmland and greenspace – for ourselves and our children and our children’s children.
Preparing your email submission:
We are not providing an automated email, nor a script to follow, because capturing individuals’ voices and perspectives is key. Similarly-worded submissions are likely to be counted as a single record, so will not reflect the multitude of voters prioritizing the transfer of ALL the Pickering Lands to Parks Canada to expand Rouge National Urban Park.
Instead, we have assembled brief, helpful resources for you to use. Feel free to borrow phrases from some or all to craft your personal message, whether long or short.
- The Federal Government’s Moral Duty
- Class 1 Soil: A Strategic National Asset
- A Brief History of the Farmland of North Pickering
- The Best Future for the Lands? Agriculture!
- Why Prime Farmland Needs Urgent Protection
Also see the North Pickering Farms brochure and our most recent two-page flyer.
At the end of the day, we know that by protecting all the Pickering Lands within RNUP, we would:
- safeguard one of Canada’s most important agricultural assets;
- provide much-needed, affordable land on long-term leases for future farmers;
- reduce reliance on food imports in an era of trade rupture and climate instability;
- expand the tourism and agri-tourism attractions of RNUP;
- protect the Park’s ecological integrity by preventing urban encroachment;
- create a legacy of prosperity, sustainability, and community renewal.
Remember! Our “Ag Study”: A Future for the Lands, showed that a focus on diversified agriculture on the Lands, and the consequent growth of agri-tourism, eco-tourism, and trail-tourism could soon deliver more than 2,100 new jobs and nearly $240 million in overall economic activity annually. The plan could provide new farmers – essential to our future – with desperately needed opportunities to launch their careers, and would revive the economy of nearby hamlets, reversing the financial drain of decades of uncertainty and neglect.
