Ontario court dismisses City of Ottawa’s appeal of Kanata golf course development, rules 1981 agreement ‘inoperative’

Kanata Lakes Golf and Country Club December 19, 2018

Ontario’s highest court has cleared the way for a housing development at the Kanata Golf and Country Club, as the years long battle continues over the future of the greenspace in Ottawa’s west end.

The Court of Appeal has dismissed the City of Ottawa’s appeal of an Ontario Superior Court decision that declared a 1981 agreement between the city and Clublink requiring 40 per cent of the property to be kept as open space “inoperative.”

In a decision released Tuesday afternoon, Justice Lorne Sossin writes, “I conclude that the application judge reached the correct conclusion, effectively rendering all provisions relating to the golf course inoperative.”

The ruling issues a “fresh declaration.”

“The simplest and most accurate way to give effect to this Court’s earlier decision declaring ss. 5(4) and 9 of the 1981 Agreement to be void, is to grant a declaration that all provisions in the 1981 Agreement and related contracts relating to the golf course lands are to be considered void as a consequence,” the ruling states.

“Where provisions relate to the property as a whole, they are to be interpreted as no longer applying to the golf course lands.”

Tuesday’s ruling by the appeal court points to a ruling by the Ontario Land Tribunal in 2022, saying it “makes clear that Clublink’s proposed redevelopment of the golf course lands is consistent with both the city City’s Official Plan, and the public interest.”

The Kanata Greenpeace Protection Coalition issued a statement on the Court of Appeal’s ruling, saying it is “saddened” the judges agreed the 40 per cent agreement for the greenspace is inoperative.

“We strongly disagree with the court’s decision and are consulting with our lawyers on appropriate next steps,” the coalition said in a statement.

“For six years, the Kanata Greenspace Protection Coalition has led our community in its fight to stop Clublink Corp., Minto Communities and Richcraft Homes from destroying cherished greenspace in the heart of the Kanata Lakes and Beaverbrook neighbourhoods. We will continue to fight to preserve this land and the vital role it plays in stormwater management in our community.”

ClubLink acquired the property in 1997. In October 2019, ClubLink formally applied to the city to build more homes on the golf course lands. ClubLink and its developers, Minto Communities and Richcraft Homes, promised a new community of more than 1,500 homes with a minimum 25 per cent greenspace.

The city brought forward an application for an order requiring ClubLink to withdraw its applications, saying the development application triggered its “right to demand conveyance of the golf course lands.” The city and supporters of the Kanata Golf and Country Club point to the 1981 agreement that states 40 per cent of the land must be kept as open space.

In October 2023, an Ontario Superior Court justice ruled ClubLink should not be “saddled with the perpetual obligation” to run a golf course.

The city did win a court challenge in February 2021, when Ontario Superior Court Justice Marc Labrosse ruled the 40 per cent greenspace agreement “continues to be a valid and binding contract.” However, the Ontario Court of Appeal reversed the ruling, with the three-judge panel saying the agreement was not an ironclad protection of greenspace forever.

The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the city’s application for leave to appeal the decision to strike down parts of the agreement that protected the golf course.