Tell feds to to expand Rouge National Park as promised

When the Canadian government finally canceled long-opposed plans for an airport north of Pickering they promised to add the federal lands to Rouge National Urban Park. Now they are backtracking.

What you can do

Send a letter to the public consultation to tell the Feds to keep their promise. The deadline is Friday April 17, 2026 so don’t wait! Your letter will go to the Federal Pickering Lands Consultation, your MP and Katie Krelove, our Ontario Campaigner.

Points to Consider:
Use them to add or edit to your letter!

  • I urge the Government of Canada to keep their promise and transfer all the federally held Pickering lands to Parks Canada for inclusion in the Rouge National Park, with no privatization for residential, commercial or industrial development. 
  • The federally held Pickering lands represent a once in a lifetime opportunity to protect some of Ontario’s best Class 1 farmland as well as large areas of Carolinian and Mixed Woodland forest, home to over 1,700 species of plants and animals. 
  • The Pickering Lands are an interconnected ecological system that require full protection to remain healthy. Breaking up these lands for unnecessary and expensive urban sprawl would compromise their integrity and function, literally paving paradise. There is much more value in protection. 
  • In a time of geopolitical and climate threats, along with growing awareness of the need to strengthen our food security, paving over a significant Class 1 Soil asset would be an irreversible mistake. These lands feed communities, cool cities, store carbon, prevent flooding, and help protect our health and wellbeing.
  • Protection must be done in partnership with First Nations. Please engage in meaningful consultation with Williams Treaty First Nations in the co-management and stewardship planning of the Pickering Airport Lands within the Rouge National Urban Park.
     

Points to Consider:
Use them to add or edit to your letter!

  • I urge the Government of Canada to keep their promise and transfer all the federally held Pickering lands to Parks Canada for inclusion in the Rouge National Park, with no privatization for residential, commercial or industrial development. 
  • The federally held Pickering lands represent a once in a lifetime opportunity to protect some of Ontario’s best Class 1 farmland as well as large areas of Carolinian and Mixed Woodland forest, home to over 1,700 species of plants and animals. 
  • The Pickering Lands are an interconnected ecological system that require full protection to remain healthy. Breaking up these lands for unnecessary and expensive urban sprawl would compromise their integrity and function, literally paving paradise. There is much more value in protection. 
  • In a time of geopolitical and climate threats, along with growing awareness of the need to strengthen our food security, paving over a significant Class 1 Soil asset would be an irreversible mistake. These lands feed communities, cool cities, store carbon, prevent flooding, and help protect our health and wellbeing.
  • Protection must be done in partnership with First Nations. Please engage in meaningful consultation with Williams Treaty First Nations in the co-management and stewardship planning of the Pickering Airport Lands within the Rouge National Urban Park.