Land use policy and stewardship staff
Access contact information for ministry staff who are available to discuss agricultural land use planning, policy and stewardship matters.
Overview
The land use policy and stewardship team is responsible for researching, developing and implementing provincial legislation, regulation, policy and guidance material related to land use planning and environmental issues that affect the agri-food sector.
Staff in the unit:
- help residents, consultants and municipalities understand provincial agricultural and rural land use policies
- provide correspondence on Planning Act applications to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH) through the One-Window provincial planning system for official plans, zoning by-laws or lot creation
- provide correspondence to other agencies for Aggregate Resource Act or Environmental Assessment Act applications
- provide data, training and tools for land use planning topics such as permitted uses, identifying prime agricultural areas and Minimum Distance Separation (MDS) setbacks
Contact information
Geographically-specific questions
If you have a geographically-specific question, please contact the appropriate rural planner using the staff coverage map.
Ken Mott
Rural planner
2284 Nursery Road
Midhurst, Ontario
L9X 1N8Tel: 613-290-9112 Nancy Rutherford
Rural planner
3rd Floor North
1 Stone Road
Guelph, Ontario
N1G 4Y2Tel: 226-962-2139
Environmental assessments notifications
For province-wide notifications related to environmental assessments, please email omafra.eanotices@ontario.ca.
Province-wide questions
For province-wide questions related to agricultural land use planning and stewardship policies, please contact:
Michele Doncaster
Manager of land use policy and stewardship
3rd Floor North
1 Stone Road
Guelph, Ontario
N1G 4Y2Tel: 226-979-1552 Jen Turnbull
Senior policy advisor (stewardship)
3rd Floor North
1 Stone Road
Guelph, Ontario
N1G 4Y2Tel: 226-971-3387 John Turvey
Senior policy advisor (land use)
3rd Floor North
1 Stone Road
Guelph, Ontario
N1G 4Y2Tel: 519-766-8811 Helma Geerts
Policy advisor (land use)
3rd Floor North
1 Stone Road
Guelph, Ontario
N1G 4Y2Tel: 519-546-7423 Drew Crinklaw
Policy advisor (land use)
3rd Floor North
1 Stone Road
Guelph, Ontario
N1G 4Y2Tel: 519-317-4493 Ben Hindmarsh
Policy advisor (stewardship)
3rd Floor North
1 Stone Road
Guelph, Ontario
N1G 4Y2Tel: 519-317-5745 William Martin
Policy advisor (land Use/stewardship)
3rd Floor North
1 Stone Road
Guelph, Ontario
N1G 4Y2Tel: 705-772-8428