Survey findings suggest Puslinch residents reject MZO request

PUSLINCH – A new independent poll commissioned by Help Protect Puslinch and the Small Change Fund – conducted by Pallas Data – suggests residents are opposed to an industrial development proposed on Puslinch farmland.

The survey findings suggest 48 per cent of residents are opposed to a Minister’s Zoning Order (MZO) that would allow the development, compared with just 13% of residents who support it. In other words, it’s 4 to 1 against the development. 

Danby Canada Inc. owner Jim Estill is asking the province to approve a large-scale industrial and headquarters development on agricultural land in Puslinch. 

Puslinch council voted unanimously against the request on May 6. 

Estill, however, can still appeal directly to the Ontario government, which can approve an MZO regardless of council’s decision. 

For the governing Progressive Conservatives, the poll points to real political risk extending beyond the township’s borders.

Approximately 42% of respondents said they would be less likely to support their local PC candidate in the next provincial election if the Doug Ford government grants the MZO — more than triple the 12% who said it would make them more likely to do so. 

Fifty-nine per cent of residents say it’s important council’s unanimous decision be respected, compared to just 14% who say it is not. 

“This poll confirms what we heard from residents all spring, that people want this development in a designated industrial area, and they don’t think the province should be able to overrule a unanimous council decision,” said Justin Wilson, a resident and member of Help Protect Puslinch.

“In Puslinch, specifically, only 8.7% support this MZO and most people want the council’s decision respected,” Wilson added.

When asked to choose between two statements about the township’s future, 85% of respondents said Puslinch’s agricultural land should be protected to preserve the community’s character, compared with just 15% who said the township should allow more industrial zoning to create more jobs, even if it means losing farmland.

A desire to protect the land extends to the site’s best-known neighbour the Donkey Sanctuary of Canada. 

Forty-eight per cent  of respondents said protecting the Donkey Sanctuary of Canada from the noise, traffic and construction of an industrial development should be a higher priority than building it, compared to 29% who said it’s a lower priority. 

“In 2025, Puslinch responded to the province’s demand for more growth and provided 140 hectares (roughly 260 football fields) of suitable land for industry,” Wilson said.

“If the province comes in and overrides the council decision, what they’re really saying is none of that hard work mattered – the independent employment land study, the council meetings, the public input, all of it. That’s a hard thing to explain to your neighbours.”

Help Protect Puslinch is calling on the Ontario government to respect Puslinch council’s unanimous decision and reject Estill’s request for an MZO.

The survey waas conducted July 4 to 7 among a sample of 300 adults, 18 years of age or older, living in Puslinch and or in Guelph, south of Stone Road, who are eligible voters.

The survey was conducted using automated telephone interviews; respondents were interviewed on landlines and cellular phones.