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.

Niagara Escarpment 2.0

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• Niagara Escarpment Commission Newsletter - November 2009