Councillor wants Ontario government to protect Kanata golf club from housing development

An Ottawa councillor wants the Ontario government to step in and preserve the 40 per cent greenspace agreement at the Kanata Golf and Country Club.

An Ottawa councillor wants the Ontario government to step in and preserve the 40 per cent greenspace agreement at the Kanata Golf and Country Club. Last September, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the City of Ottawa’s appeal of the Ontario Court of Appeal ruling that declared a 1981 agreement to keep 40 per cent of the property as green space as “inoperative.” The ruling paves the way for Clublink and its developers, Minto Communities and Richcraft Homes, to build 1,500 new homes on the golf course in Ottawa’s west end.

Coun. Cathy Curry will move a motion at Wednesday’s council meeting, seconded by Mayor Mark Sutcliffe, for councillors to direct the mayor to write Premier Doug Ford and Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Rob Flack to request Ontario intervene and save the golf course. Curry’s motion recommends the mayor request the Ontario government consider two tools: Curry’s motion notes that the Ontario government intervened in plans to redevelop Glen Abbey Golf course in Oakville in 2021.

Former Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark said he secured a commitment from ClubLink to withdraw their plans for development and continue the operation of Glen Abbey as a golf course. Premier Ford told reporters last September the Ontario government would not get involved in the dispute over the future of the Kanata Golf and Country Club. The fight over the future of the Kanata Golf and Country Club dates back to 2018, when the course’s owner, ClubLink, announced plans to build approximately 1,500 homes on the Kanata Lakes property.

The City of Ottawa and residents have pointed to the 1981 agreement between the former City of Kanata and Campeau Corporation that states 40 per cent of the area must be kept as open space. In January 2025, the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled the 1981 agreement between the former City of Kanata and the former owner of the course, Campeau Corporation, should “be considered void.” “The roads, water infrastructure, and school capacities in the area, along with the thousands of nearby new apartment units were all planned on the understanding that this land would remain parkland and storm water management for the area,” Curry’s motion said.

“Hundreds of acres of nearby forests and greenspace were approved for housing development on the understanding that the Kanata golf lands would become the community’s permanent and protected park and greenspace.” Curry notes Council “affirmed” in January that building homes on the Kanata Golf and Country Club lands does “not fit with the plan the broader Kanata Lakes community was built around and the promises made to its residents.” In a memo to council last month, City Solicitor Stuart Huxley said the decisions by the Ontario Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada void all contractual protections specific to the golf course.

“Opportunities for long-term protection of the lands are now limited to planning and statutory tools,” Huxley said. “At the municipal level, these include voluntary acquisition or expropriation pursuant to the Expropriations Act, both of which would require Council approval, a valid municipal purpose, and the payment of compensation.” Huxley said the province may intervene through mechanisms such as expropriation or a Minister’s Zoning Order (MZO)

“An MZO allows the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to directly regulate land use, override municipal zoning, and impose binding conditions, including requirements for agreements registered on title,” he said. The Kanata Golf and Country Club has closed for good. Huxley says Clublink and its partners have conducted “limited site work” on the course to support preliminary engineering design work.

“Available information indicates that mercury concentrations remain generally consistent with prior findings and do not represent a significant risk to surrounding receptors, although remediation will be required,” he said.