Province opens 45-day public comment period
Canoeing the Raisin River on a spring day, southeast of Chesterville. (Harmony Koiter photo)
Farmers Forum staff
OTTAWA — The Ford government plans to amalgamate the province’s 36 conservation authorities into seven regional bodies, and the province wants to hear from the public before enacting the mergers through amendment to the Conservation Authorities Act.
Those interested in commenting on the major change have until 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 22 to file their submissions with the province online at ero.ontario.ca/notice/025-1257 or by email at ca.office@ontario.ca. (Include your name and contact information if emailing.)
Environment Minister Todd McCarthy announced the government’s coming overhaul of Ontario’s watershed authority landscape on Halloween. The change includes establishing a new provincial entity, the Ontario Provincial Conservation Agency, to lead the transition and ensure standardized policies and permits as 36 authorities are consolidated into seven much larger ones in the name of efficiency.
The minister described the current setup as “too fragmented to meet modern challenges” in a press release. “By consolidating into regional authorities aligned with watershed boundaries, we’ll cut red tape, free up resources for on-the-ground work, and align better with priorities like housing and climate resilience,” he said.
The broader Eastern Ontario area, from Uxbridge in the west to Hawkesbury in the east, would fall into three new conservation authorities:
- The St. Lawrence Region Conservation Authority — a merger of the South Nation, Raisin Region, Cataraqui, Rideau Valley and Mississippi Valley conservation authorities;
- The Eastern Lake Ontario Conservation Authority — a merger of the the Kawartha Region, Otonobee Region, Ganaraska Region, Lower Trent Region, Crowe Valley and Quinte Region conservation authorities;
- The Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority — currently comprising the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority.
McCarthy has promised no job losses as a result of the amalgamations.
The move would be one of the most significant forced mergers of entities under provincial jurisdiction since the Harris government went on a spree of municipal, school board and hospital board amalgamations in the late 1990s. That change was supposed to save money by eliminating duplication of services, a rationale revived in the latest consolidation push.
The province says the new regional conservation authorities will remain independent organizations operating with the governance and oversight of their constituent municipalities. No change to the funding model for conservation authorities is proposed. Most of their operating budgets come from levies paid by municipalities based on area drained.
