A giant swath of green space just outside Toronto that the federal government has had earmarked for a future airport for decades will now no longer serve that planned purpose.

The Pickering Airport Lands, a more than 7,000-hectare chunk of property that Ottawa took over in the early 1970s, was always meant to one day be transformed into a new international travel hub for the ever-expanding GTA.

Over the years, portions of it have been devoted to other purposes, both temporary and permanent — among them, the creation of Rouge National Urban Park in 2015, now governed by Parks Canada.

The rest of the site has remained under the jurisdiction of Transport Canada, still with the intention of eventually bringing a new travel hub to fruition. However, Ottawa has just announced a drastic change for the property, which is located in Pickering, but also stretches into neighbouring municipalities like Markham.

A Monday news release has abruptly put an end to the long-held airport vision, stating that the plan will be canned in favour of more park space. This confirms information leaked by the Star earlier the same morning.

There has been pushback to the prospect of another GTA airport over the years, especially given environmental concerns. Photo by Greg Finnegan/Shutterstock.

"The Pickering Lands will not be used for a future airport site. The Government of Canada intends to transfer the high conservation value lands to Parks Canada," the abrupt update from Transport Canada reads, briefly touching on the history of the property, including the fact that the airport dreams were originally "put on hold in favour of expanding existing airports" all the way back in 1975.

While Parks Canada will be taking over the 35-square-kilometre parcel that was, until now, still being reserved for an airport, Transport Canada also states that there will be a formal consultation process to determine the exact uses of the lands, which will be "critical to determining the path forward."

"We will soon begin public consultations to determine future uses, taking into account the region's greatest needs," Minister of Transport Anita Anand was quoted as saying, adding that the new airport was determined to be "not the best use" of the site.