The City of Pickering is set to vote next month on a secondary housing development plan that could transform the municipality’s landscape east of Toronto over the next quarter-century.

Mayor Kevin Ashe is presenting the move, which could result in the building of homes for more than 70,000 people, as a job creator and key solution to address the housing shortage.

But critics argue the plan to develop the agricultural area is costly and unnecessary, and a local First Nation is sounding the alarm about a lack of consultation.