The City of Ottawa is asking the Ontario government to intervene and preserve the 40 per cent greenspace agreement at the Kanata Golf and Country Club and stop the development of 1,500 homes on the property. Council voted 23 to 2 to direct Mayor Mark Sutcliffe to write Premier Doug Ford and Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Rob Flack and request the province use one of three tools to save the golf course: Coun. Cathy Curry, who introduced the motion, said council previously asked the province to intervene, but was told it was before the courts. “Right now, finally, it’s no longer before the courts and this is the opportunity to ask again,” Curry said, adding Premier Ford is “fully engaged” on the file. “It’s such a complex file. This community was promised a park, and we see the impact of not having that greenspace recently in the last week. More than ever now it’s important that we make sure we do everything we possibly can to preserve this greenspace.” 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 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.” Premier Ford told reporters last September the Ontario government would not get involved in the dispute over the future of the club. ClubLink, partners ask province not to get involved In a letter to Ford and Flack on Thursday, officials from ClubLink, Minto Group and Richcraft Homes urged them to “decline any such intervention” and respect the “final decisions” by the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) and the courts. “The redevelopment has been subject to exhaustive independent review and has prevailed through Ontario’s land-use planning and judicial processes,” said the letter, provided to CTV News Ottawa. The letter notes the Ontario Land Tribunal ruled in Mach 2022 that the proposal to redevelop the golf course “represents good land use planning” and “is in the public interest.” “Ottawa is in desperate need of new housing supply. The approved plan will deliver approximately 1,500 new homes, addressing a critical part of Ottawa’s housing needs, while preserving more than 20 hectares (approximately one-third of the site) as permanent public open space,” the letter said. “And despite some of the misinformation communicated by opponents of the development, all environmental matters were thoroughly examined during the OLT hearing with expert evidence and are addressed through rigorous conditions of approval. Provincial intervention at this stage - after the matter has been fully and finally determined by the OLT and upheld through the court process - would undermine the integrity of Ontario’s independent planning and judicial systems.” The Kanata Golf and Country Club has closed for good. City staff told council last month that 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,” staff said.
