Midhurst/September 25, 2025 – County Council has a long and storied history of wanting to build more housing, create more jobs, while providing balanced and responsible growth in our region. We are pleased to have a current Provincial government that also supports that concept, as this hasn’t always been the case. We cannot, however, support the unclear agendas and mandate that has led us to the most recent versions of the vast and rushed proposed annexation and mapping. The process seemingly has had little or no regard for the regional inputs and desires provided into the process and mapping. The currently proposed outcomes have the potential to negatively impact the County’s economy, the environment, and the future County revenues that would help offset our residents hard earned tax dollars. The County willingly engaged in facilitated process intended to arrive at a mutually acceptable “win-win” solution to help resolve growth challenges brought forward by the City of Barrie and provide opportunities for the Townships and County to prosper. Quite simply, this process and the suspected influences behind it have led to the process seemingly losing control, as well as clouding the initial goal of any potential “win-win” outcome.
Any lands developed outside the County’s municipal boundary (within the separated City of Barrie) provide no direct tax revenue benefit to the Townships or County. While the County appreciates the City of Barrie as a municipal partner and their needs, the Townships can and will negotiate some direct compensation with the City for their losses. The County proposed opportunities in the process focussed on the inclusion of other strategic land developments and investments in strategic County undertakings, which appear to have not been considered or included. Further, County Council has never supported any potential discussions regarding annexation of lands for employment purposes in the highway 400/11 area which are outside of the agreed-upon study area. This does not appear justifiable until well into the future and conflicts with or simply does not support other regional opportunities and investments. Based on some estimates from development proponents, adding County employment lands along the highway 400 corridor could bring as many as 22,000 jobs and $85 million in annual tax revenue to the County.
The Facilitator’s proposed annexation, which appears to be well beyond the initially stated goals and focus of the process, and even the stated desires or needs of the municipal parties involved, threatens millions in future lost revenues to the County. This revenue helps fund all the County’s critical services as well as strategic investments like hospital and education funding, which benefits all our collective residents and municipalities. In hindsight, the City, Townships and County could have likely negotiated something much more palatable in an open and public process without outside influences driving outcomes – which could still possibly be a potential.
The County needs employment lands in our Northern regional market. That is something we need to correct within the immediate timeline. Studies from this process show Barrie has enough employment land for the next two decades, while Simcoe County faces current employment land shortages in this market. Simply put, Barrie could receive more lands for jobs while the County employment needs remain unmet. This loss of our strategic economic land limits our ability to fund economic drivers like the airport, which will provide immense benefits to the entire region.
This unfortunately is not an issue only impacting the municipalities involved; it affects every taxpayer in Simcoe County. We feel we can work with our partners to address reasonable needs for each without this type of vast land taking and impact to future revenues, tax rates, municipal services, and the health of the County’s economic future.
We believe Minister Flack will work with us and consider our perspectives and concerns on this process. The Province would be prudent to consider the County’s concerns, stated housing employment and servicing needs and strategic investments, as well as any public input and required consultations, prior to endorsing any proposal.
Basil Clarke,
Warden, County of Simcoe