The Ontario government says it has begun to return two land parcels in Ajax to the Greenbelt after the owner listed them for sale.

In a news release, the province said some of the lands were listed for use as a business park rather than residential purposes. The province moved 15 properties (3,000 acres) from the Greenbelt, a Greater Toronto Area protected zone, for residential-construction purposes.

As Connect Canada CRE reported, Premier Doug Ford had warned that the Ajax parcels could be returned to the Greenbelt. The government contends the owner’s plans to sell them were never discussed with the provincial land and development facilitator.

Auditor-General Bonnie Lysyk issued a scathing report that accused the government of removing the 3,000 acres from the Greenbelt through a “biased” process that favoured “certain prominent developers.”

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