First phase of Edwardsburgh Land Bank sale completed

Edwardsburgh Land Bank Sale Phase One – The formal announcement and transfer of about 2,500 acres of the Edwardsburgh Land Bank from the Province of Ontario to HFI Pyrotechnics took place April 27 in Spencerville. The purchase will enable the defence contractor to expand its facilities and the exclusion area around its facility. The company is a supplier to the Canadian Armed Forces, and an exporter of military search and rescue markers. Pictured above in the centre are Tory Deschamps – Edwardsburgh-Cardinal mayor, Brendan Howard, partner and managing director at CIEL Capital, Steve Clark, Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes MPP and government house leader, Rhiannon Iles, president of HFI Pyrotechnics, and members of Edwardsburgh-Cardinal council, staff, and HFI staff. (The Leader/Blancher photo)

SPENCERVILLE — Following years of advocacy by multiple Edwardsburgh-Cardinal councils, 2,487 acres of provincially-owned land has been transferred back to local control. The deal was announced April 27 in Spencerville.

Edwardsburgh-Cardinal finalized the transaction April 1, which saw HFI Pyrotechnics purchase several parcels of land that comprise nearly one-quarter of the Edwardsburgh Land Bank. It is the first phase of a plan to return the entire 10,000 acre land bank to local control and ownership.

“Today’s announcement marks a major milestone in our council’s commitment to ensuring Edwardsburg-Cardinal remains the industrial and economic driver of Eastern Ontario,” said Tory Deschamps, mayor of Edwardsburgh-Cardinal. “To say that we’re proud of that work that’s happening here would be a gross understatement. We’re proud of the partnerships. We’re proud of the momentum, and we’re proud of what this project means for jobs, investment, and long term prosperity in Edwardsburgh-Cardinal and across the entire South Grenville region.”

HFI produces search and rescue markers and military training supplies at its facility on Hands Road north-west of Johnstown.

“This land purchase not only secured the business that we are today, and the jobs of over 120 people, but also increased our footprint to contribute to Canadian defence,” said Rhiannon Iles, president of HFI.

Government House Leader and Local MPP Steve Clark (Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes) spoke of the amount of lobbying that took place to get the Land Bank sale approved.

“We’ve been at our fair share of delegations at AMO, and ROMA, and AMO, and ROMA,” he repeated. “And it really took the township’s persistence vision.”

Quoting from one of the letters he wrote to Infrastructure Minister Kinga Surma, Clark said, “‘Instead of sitting idle, this land will be used to create good jobs for people who will be making equipment for the brave men and women of Canada’s military.’ And that’s why we are here today.”

The deal is the first phase of two of returning the Edwardsburgh Land Bank properties to local control. The province assembled the land bank in the 1970s and early 1980s through expropriation and land purchases. It was developed to have land available for large-scale industrial development, however that plan was abruptly halted and the land has been unused since.

For more than a decade, elected officials and staff at the township, and local MPP Steve Clark have pushed for land to be sold to Edwardsburgh-Cardinal for local development. The land was declared surplus by the province in 2020.

Government House Leader and Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes MPP Steve Clark speaks during the April 27 land bank sale announcement while Edwardsburgh-Cardinal Mayor Tory Deschamps looks on. (The Leader/Blancher photo)

Negotiations on the land bank sale picked up in 2024. In November 2025, Premier Doug Ford was asked about the delay.

“I have no problem with it, to be very frank, as long as there are no kinks in it that I don’t know about,” the Premier said at the time.

Acting Minister of Infrastructure, Todd McCarthy – who joined Monday’s announcement via video link – said that leveraging surplus government land was part of the government’s plan to protect jobs and economic growth.

“We’re turning underused assets into good-paying jobs, strengthening domestic industries and supply chains, and giving communities the tools they need to grow and compete,” he said.

The sale to HFI was expedited due to the federal government’s defence procurement expansion announced by Prime Minister Mark Carney. That led to the land bank sale being split into two phases, Deschamps and Clark confirmed.

“This was urgent, that’s why we moved on it,” said Deschamps.

“The government knows the minute we’re here what the next question is,” Clark said.

“I told the minister [McCarthy] and the Premier’s Office this before that this is just fait accompli.”

As for phase two, the remaining 7,500 acres of the land bank, Edwardsburgh-Cardinal approved a bylaw at its April 27 to conclude the agreement with Infrastructure Ontario for the property.

No purchase price of phase one or phase two of the land bank sale was disclosed. A time line for the sale of the remaining land bank land was also not given but is expected to close in 2026.