Burlington is pushing back on Ontario’s proposed 2,713-unit redevelopment beside Aldershot GO, arguing the six-tower project puts too much of the area’s planned housing on a small piece of provincial land without enough jobs, parkland or supporting infrastructure.

Infrastructure Ontario’s plan for 119 Masonry Crt. would redevelop Metrolinx-owned land beside the station with six residential towers ranging from 30 to 48 storeys and about 22,450 SF of retail and commercial space.

The province says the project is intended to create a higher-density, mixed-use community connected to GO and Burlington Transit, with approximately 2,715 homes and space supporting about 80 jobs.

But the site represents only about 6% of the Aldershot GO Major Transit Station Area while accounting for 22% of its planned housing and just 3% of its jobs, according to city staff.

“That’s not really a complete community,” Mayor Marianne Meed Ward said during a committee meeting Monday.

Staff also raised concerns about infrastructure capacity and the relatively limited amount of employment and commercial space proposed for a development of this scale.

The disagreement extends to the approval process. Burlington wants the project to proceed through a conventional zoning amendment reviewed by council rather than a ministerial zoning order, which allows the province to set zoning directly.

Burlington is not alone. Whitby Mayor Elizabeth Roy has also asked the province to use the regular Planning Act process for Infrastructure Ontario’s proposed 2,355-unit development at Whitby GO.

Aldershot is part of IO’s broader Transit-Oriented Communities program. The provincial model is to advance planning and approvals on government-owned land, then bring development opportunities to the private market.

IO says the program could unlock as many as 340,000 homes around GO, LRT and subway stations.