The new Housing Minister of Ontario, Paul Calandra, held his second press conference in several days this morning, Thursday, where he avoided questions about the Greenbelt development while reaffirming his commitment to achieving regional building goals.

Calandra stated that as Minister, he will prioritize Premier Ford's goal of building 1.5 million new homes across the province by 2031, which was one of several recommendations included in the Ontario Housing Affordability Task Force report released in 2022.

Although the report indicates that these construction goals can be achieved without removing any land from the Greenbelt, Calandra said that at that time, the recommendations did not account for the population growth the province will experience in the coming years.

He said, "The task force report did not take into account at that time the massive growth the province will experience, not just from outside the country but also from other parts of Canada."

"We are witnessing tremendous growth in the province of Ontario, and this is an exciting and encouraging time for the people of this province. We need 1.5 million homes."

Calandra said his government will prioritize housing development along transit routes and where infrastructure already exists, which may mean moving forward with construction on Greenbelt lands after review.

He told reporters on Wednesday that he asked the Deputy Minister of Housing on his first full day in office to conduct a "comprehensive" review of the process by which lands were selected for removal from the protected area.

Along with the review, Calandra said one of the regional facilitators is currently negotiating community benefits with local governments—work he hopes will be completed by the end of the year, after which he committed to announce the results to the public.

When asked directly today whether the province needs to build on the Greenbelt to achieve its goals, Calandra said proposed development on protected lands will move forward if certain criteria are met.

"Do we need to build on the Greenbelt? Well, we will move forward with building on the Greenbelt if it meets, as I said yesterday, after the facilitator completes its work, the criteria we will establish regarding the full Greenbelt review, we will move forward with that, and if that does not happen, the land will be returned to the Greenbelt."

Calandra was also asked whether the Ford government is not committed to the concept of permanently protected Greenbelt, to which he replied, "On the contrary," adding, "To say that we do not care is completely wrong, but what we are looking at is making sure we have available land in the areas where we have made significant contributions to infrastructure; we need to build where the resources are."

Calandra said on Wednesday that the review he ordered for the Greenbelt process could involve the removal or addition of protected lands, but the minister did not provide any details about how the government will ultimately determine which areas will be protected.

Calandra states that moving forward, the provincial government will continue to work on "engaging municipalities" to achieve housing goals that he says "will not be diverted."

Calandra added, "We will work together until we are able to meet the goals of the recommendations, so that we can achieve our goal of providing 1.5 million homes, and we will not be diverted from that. I believe we can do both; we can protect our natural heritage while at the same time achieving our goals."

Calandra's first two press conferences as Minister of Housing this week follow the resignation of Steve Clark from his position on Monday after two damning reports about the Greenbelt identified a deeply flawed process that favored certain developers and lacked transparency.