Welcome to the Niagara Escarpment Commission

An agency of Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources, the Niagara Escarpment Commission works on behalf of the people of Ontario to preserve the Niagara Escarpment as a continuous natural landscape – a vital corridor of green space through south-central Ontario.  

The Niagara Escarpment is a protected area under the Province of Ontario’s Niagara Escarpment Planning and Development Act and the Niagara Escarpment Plan (NEP) Canada’s first large-scale environmental land use plan. 

The Niagara Escarpment Plan outlines land use designations, development criteria and related permitted uses, including farming, forestry and mineral resource extraction. It also provides the framework for a string of more than 130 existing and proposed parks and open spaces linked by the Bruce Trail, Canada’s oldest and longest continuous footpath.

Designated a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve in 1990, the Niagara Escarpment is an internationally recognized landform and is the cornerstone of Ontario’s Greenbelt.

New

Plan Amendment 167 - Sutherland

*August 16* Please note that the NEC is unable to post the Staff Report at this time due to computer network problems. Our apologies for any inconvenience; the report will be posted as soon as our network is restored.

The Staff Report on the NEPA application Harold Sutherland Construction to permit a quarry will not be going the Niagara Escarpment Commission meeting in August as was originally advertised.  It will now be presented to the Commission at the September 16th meeting at 1:00 pm to be held at the Best Western hotel in Jordan, Ontario. Click here for updates to the application and the draft Adaptive Management Plan.  

Additions to the Niagara Escarpment Planning Area - Regulation 235/10  

• On June 15, 2010 the Minster of Natural Resources announced that 750 hectares of land has been added to the Niagara Escarpment Planning Area (NEPA) by the Lieutenant Governor in Council pursuant to the provisions of the Niagara Escarpment Planning and Development Act (NEPDA). 
• Please note these maps are not a plan of survey and are intended to reflect the areas as described in Ontario Regulation 235/10.

The new lands include and are known as:

1. The Cootes Paradise Link – Located in the City of Hamilton includes a strip of land found between property held by the Royal Botanical Gardens.
2. The Pleasant View Survey– Located in the City of Hamilton the lands found generally south of Patterson Road extending to Highway 403 and including lands between Highway 6 on the east and York Road on the West.
3. The 407 Gap Lands - Located in the City of Burlington the lands generally located between Highway 407 on the east and bounded to the north by No. 1 Sideroad and to the south by Dundas Street.
4. The Dufferin Quarry Addition – Located in the Town of Milton the lands located immediately north of the Dufferin Quarry License Extension approved by the cabinet in 2005.
5. The Weinberg Property – Located in the Municipality of Grey Highlands 80 hectares more or less along the Beaver Valley in Lot 19, Concession 6.

• The addition to the NEPA will permit the Niagara Escarpment Commission to process Niagara Escarpment Plan Amendments providing Escarpment Land Use Designations and Policies to the new areas. The Plan Amendment process set out under the NEPDA requiring consultation and notice to ministries, municipalities, agencies and the public will apply to the five areas. The NEC anticipates that some of the Amendments will be initiated shortly since most of the areas have been studied and draft amendments prepared awaiting the Cabinet Decision to include the lands in the NEPA.

Niagara Escarpment 2.0

• Niagara Escarpment Commission Newsletter - July 2010
• Visit the Niagara Escarpment Blog
• Follow the Niagara Escarpment on Twitter - we are Escarpment BR