If you own a home in Millcroft, you probably saw the headline. On September 29, Burlington council refused the Millcroft Greens plan. Both applications, turned down.
And I understand why people read that as the end of it. It isn't.
I said in my Plains Road piece that I'd come back to Millcroft. So here it is, and here's the part that matters: on these lands, a council refusal hasn't held before. The decision that counts isn't council's.
What council actually did
Two refusals, same night, same file. Report DGM-55-26.
Council refused the Official Plan Amendment, and it refused the Draft Plan of Subdivision. Both were submitted by Macaulay Shiomi Howson Ltd., acting for Millcroft Greens Corporation and 1000835226 Ontario Inc.
The sites are 2155 Country Club Drive, 4135 Millcroft Park Drive and 4291 Couples Crescent. The plan was 73 detached homes and 65 townhouses, plus six private roads and blocks for open space, landscaping, natural heritage and stormwater management.
That's it. The City's own release on the meeting doesn't say a word about what happens next, or about appeal rights. Worth noting, because that silence is where most of the confusion comes from.
Why a refusal here doesn't settle it
This is the part I'd want to know if it were my street.
Back in 2024, the Ontario Land Tribunal already approved development on part of these lands. Millcroft Greens had appealed on the basis that the City didn't decide its application inside 120 days, which is a route the Planning Act gives developers. The tribunal sided with the developer. It approved 90 single-family homes and 130 apartment units at 2155 Country Club Drive and 4274 Dundas Street, subject to conditions.
Burlington opposed that at the tribunal and lost. The mayor called it a deep disappointment at the time.
So the pattern on these lands is already established. The City says no, the developer appeals, and a tribunal decides. Trees came down after that approval — hundreds of them, by local reporting, to make room for the 90 houses. That's not a hypothetical. It happened.
Which is why I'd treat the September refusal as one step in a longer process, not a result.
The city already asked the province to step in. It got turned down.
Here's the piece almost nobody mentions, and it's the most important context on the whole file.
In June 2025, Burlington council voted unanimously to ask the province for a minister's zoning order — an order that would have stopped further redevelopment on the golf course. The request went to the Housing Minister.
Three days later, the province said no.
The mayor and Ward 6 Councillor Angelo Bentivegna put out a joint statement: "We know this isn't the answer council and the community were hoping for, and we share your deep disappointment." They added that council "remains steadfast in our view that greenspace is not an appropriate area for development."
So when you read that the City is going to the province, understand that it's already been down that road once.
What's being asked for now
On October 2, the mayor went back to the Ford government with the same ask, publicly.
Her words: "What we've asked for is to issue an order that keeps the zoning what it is now, which is parks and open space." She also said she wants a decision soon, specifically so the City can avoid a long and costly appeal at the tribunal. And: "I'm never going to stop fighting for this."
Council is unanimously opposed. Roughly 800 households live around the course. The first phase has already been cleared, and a second phase on the other half of the course is planned.
As I'm writing this, the province hasn't answered the renewed request. That's the open question the whole file now hangs on.
What I'd do if I own in Millcroft
First, separate the two things people blend together.
One is what eventually gets built. That's genuinely unresolved, and it's going to take time — tribunal timelines run in years, not months.
The other is what your home is worth now. Those aren't the same question, and the second one doesn't wait for the first.
Millcroft is one of Burlington's established move-up pockets. Larger detached homes, wide streets, mature landscaping, strong family demand. The people buying there are usually trading up out of Headon Forest or Orchard, and they're buying the neighbourhood as much as the house. None of that changed on September 29.
What does move is buyer confidence on specific streets. A buyer looking at a home backing onto the affected part of the course will ask about it. A buyer four streets away mostly won't. So the honest answer about impact depends on where you actually are, not on the neighbourhood name.
If you weren't planning to sell, I wouldn't change your plans over this. If you were thinking about listing in the next year, I'd want to look at your street specifically before you decide on timing.
If you're thinking about buying in Millcroft
Don't let the headline scare you off, and don't ignore it either.
Ask where the lands sit relative to the house you're looking at. Ask what's approved versus what's proposed — those are two very different things here, and on these lands the approved part is real. And get the current status of the file from the City rather than from a news story, because this one has moved several times in two years.
At the end of the day, a golf course that may partly become houses is a known risk you can price. An unknown one is worse. Most buyers handle this fine once somebody lays out which part is settled and which part isn't.
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What's still unanswered
I'd rather tell you what I don't know than pretend this is tidier than it is.
- Whether the September refusal has been appealed. The City's release doesn't say, and I haven't seen it confirmed either way.
- How the province will respond to the renewed request, or when. There's no timeline on it.
- What the second phase would actually look like if it proceeds. The developer has said in the past that it only intends to redevelop parts of the edge of the course, and neighbours read the plans differently.
Anything you read that sounds more certain than that is guessing.
Common Questions
Does council's refusal stop the development?
Not on its own. A refusal can be appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal, and on these same lands the tribunal already approved development in 2024 after the City opposed it.
Can the province just block it?
The City has asked for a zoning order that would keep the land as parks and open space. It asked once in June 2025 and the province declined. The mayor renewed the request publicly on October 2, and there's been no answer yet.
Is any of the golf course already approved for houses?
Yes. The tribunal approved 90 single-family homes and 130 apartment units at 2155 Country Club Drive and 4274 Dundas Street in 2024, subject to conditions, and trees have already been cleared for the houses.
Should I sell before this gets decided?
I wouldn't make that call off the neighbourhood name. It depends on where your home sits relative to the lands and what your own timing looks like. That's a twenty-minute conversation, not a rule of thumb.
Where do I get the official status?
The City of Burlington, by file number DGM-55-26. Development applications change, and an approval isn't a commitment to build.
If you own near the course
Send me your address and I'll put together a one-page read on your specific street — what's sold there over the last two years, what's active right now, and how close your home actually sits to the lands in question. Takes me a day, and you'll have something concrete instead of a headline.
What I can't tell you is how the province is going to rule, or when. Nobody can, and I'd be careful with anyone who says otherwise.
Call: 416-276-0052 Email: daniel@zarehhomes.com
Or just fill in the form below with your street name and I'll come back to you.
Keep reading
- Burlington said yes to 8 and 11 storeys on Plains Road, and no to 25 — the rest of the same council meeting
- Burlington is funding 641 new rental units — what the City is backing instead
- When an approval goes to the tribunal instead — how these appeals actually play out
- Homes for sale in Burlington — the pocket-by-pocket guide
Daniel Zareh is a licensed REALTOR® with over 20 years of experience serving Burlington, Oakville, Mississauga, Hamilton, Stoney Creek and Grimsby. Council decisions cited are from the City of Burlington's decision highlights for September 29, 2026, published October 1, 2026. The 2024 Ontario Land Tribunal decision and the June 2025 provincial response are cited from contemporaneous news reporting. Development applications change, and an approval is not a commitment to build — confirm the current status of any file with the City before relying on it. This is general information, not advice on a specific property.
Want to know how close this actually is to your home?
Send me your street and I'll tell you where you sit relative to the Millcroft lands, what's sold nearby recently, and whether it's worth factoring into your timing. If it doesn't affect you, I'll say that too.