Following a successful re-election campaign in the
2022 Ontario general election, the
Government of Premier Ford shifted outside the Greenbelt reserve, while adding of land into the
environmentally protected area in December 2022. The decision led to a
political scandal, as some real estate developers had purchased property in the Greenbelt reserve shortly before the changes were announced. Furthermore, some of the implicated developers had attended Ford's daughter's August 2022 pre-wedding party, which Ford defended based on the preclearance he had received from the province's
Integrity Commissioner in January 2022. Seven companies owned by the
De Gasperis family, including Tacc Construction, Arista Homes, and Leslie Elgin Developments, had planned to build in
Richmond Hill, Ontario. President Michal Rice of Green Lane Bathurst planned to begin building in
King, Ontario, President Marcelo Perez-Hassaf of Torca II announced construction projects in
Stouffville through their 2502536 Ontario
numbered company, Flato Upper Markham Village and Minotar Holdings held sites in
Markham, President Peter Tanenbaum of Nash Road Developments announced construction projects in
Clarington, and a Chinese firm based in
Fuyang announced plans to build in
Ajax. In October 2023, the RCMP announced they were opening a criminal investigation into whether Ford's changes corruptly favored certain developers. In August 2023, the
Auditor General of Ontario released a report detailing how the provincial government's approvals had favoured certain developers that stood to earn over $8 billion, while failing to consider the developments' environmental, agricultural, and financial impacts.
Fallout Housing Minister
Steve Clark resigned in September 2023 after the province's Integrity Commissioner concluded that he had violated ethics rules in his approvals of real estate development projects. While announcing his resignation, he resisted calls from
First Nations representatives seeking traditional territories to be returned to the Greenbelt. Later that month,
Public and Business Service Delivery Minister Kaleed Rasheed resigned over his relationship with a developer involved in the Greenbelt scandal. Clark and Rasheed's resignations led Ford to reverse his changes, announcing that he would instead encourage building within existing urban areas. In August 2023, the
Toronto Star filed for an
FOI to Ontario's Integrity Commissioner to make the emails of Ryan Amato, Steve Clark's former Chief of Staff, available to the public. In April 2025, the Integrity Commissioner ruled in favor of the Toronto Star's request. Due to the ruling, Amato has until June 11, 2025 to provide his emails or an
affidavit attesting no such emails exist. ==Reversal==