Environmental assessment act     
Section 17.15     
Notice of approval to proceed with a part II.3 project

RE: Webequie Supply Road (Project)

Proponent: Webequie First Nation

EAIMS No.: 18046

Part II.3 (Comprehensive Environmental Assessments) of the Environmental Assessment Act (Act) establishes the requirements, authority, and process for preparing, submitting and deciding an application for approval to proceed with a Part II.3 project under the Act.

The Proponent having submitted the application for approval to proceed with the Project under Part II of the Act and Part II of the Act having been subsequently revoked, pursuant to section 5 of O. Reg. 53/24 under the Act the application is deemed to have been submitted under Part II.3 of the Act.

An application consists of a terms of reference and an environmental assessment. In respect of the Project, the terms of reference was approved by the Minister on October 8, 2021. The Proponent submitted its Environmental Assessment on January 30, 2026, for a decision on the application.

A seven-week comment period followed the submission of the Environmental Assessment to the ministry, during which time any person could submit comments about the Environmental Assessment and the Project.

Following the seven-week comment period, the Proponent submitted seven addenda between March 26 and April 8, 2026, which are considered part of the Environmental Assessment submission and contribute to the assessment of the Project.

The ministry review of the Environmental Assessment was completed on April 17, 2026, and notice was provided in accordance with the Act. The ministry review concluded that the Environmental Assessment was prepared in accordance with the approved terms of reference and the Act and contained sufficient information to assess the potential environmental effects of the Project. There were no outstanding issues from the environmental assessment process that cannot be addressed through commitments made in the Environmental Assessment, conditions of approval and subsequent permitting and approvals. The public, government agencies and Indigenous communities had an opportunity to comment on the Environmental Assessment, the Project, the addenda, and the ministry review during the five-week comment period.

All comments submitted during the statutory comment period have been considered. Three requests for a hearing by the Ontario Land Tribunal were submitted. I have considered the requests and decided that a hearing is unnecessary and would cause undue delay in determining the application. I am not aware of any outstanding issues with respect to the application which suggest that a hearing should otherwise be required.

Having considered the purpose of the Act, the approved terms of reference, the Environmental Assessment, the ministry review of the Environmental Assessment and comments submitted, I am giving approval to proceed with the Project, subject to the conditions set out below.

Reasons

My reasons for giving approval are:

  1. The Proponent has complied with the requirements under the Act.
  2. The Environmental Assessment has been prepared in accordance with the approved terms of reference.
  3. Taking into consideration the Environmental Assessment and the ministry review, the Proponent’s conclusion that, on balance, the advantages of this Project outweigh its disadvantages appears to be valid.
  4. The Proponent has demonstrated that the environmental effects of the Project can be appropriately avoided, managed, mitigated.
  5. Taken together, the Environmental Assessment and addenda, the ministry review and the conditions of approval, the approval of the Project would be consistent with the purpose of the Act.
  6. There are no outstanding concerns raised by government agencies, public, or Indigenous communities that cannot be addressed through commitments in the Environmental Assessment, through the conditions set out below or through future approvals that will be required.

Conditions

The approval is subject to the following conditions:

  1. Definitions    
    For the purposes of these conditions:

    “Act”
    means the Environmental Assessment Act
    “Construction”
    means the physical construction activities, including site preparation works, but does not include the tendering of contracts.
    “Date of Approval”
    means the date on which the Order in Council pertaining to the approval of the Project was signed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
    “Director”
    means the Director of the Environmental Assessment Branch.
    “EAB”
    means the Environmental Assessment Branch of the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks.
    “Environmental Assessment”

    means the document titled Webequie Supply Road Environmental Assessment Report/Impact Assessment and dated January 30, 2026, including the following addenda.

    Addendum 1: Indigenous Peoples and Assessment of Impacts on Indigenous Rights
    Addendum 2: Vegetation and Wetlands 
    Addendum 3: General Supplemental Information 
    Addendum 4: Human Health Risk Assessment 
    Addendum 5: Wildlife and Wildlife Habitat 
    Addendum 6: Species at Risk
    Addendum 7: Caribou

    “Environment Committee”
    means the Environment Committee as described in the Environmental Assessment, submitted January 30, 2026, and as described in this Notice of Approval.
    “Indigenous Communities”
    means the following communities:
    • Aroland First Nation
    • Attawapiskat First Nation
    • Constance Lake First Nation
    • Eabametoong First Nation
    • Fort Albany First Nation
    • Ginoogaming First Nation
    • Kasabonika Lake First Nation
    • Kashechewan First Nation
    • Kingfisher Lake First Nation
    • Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug
    • Long Lake #58 First Nation
    • Marten Falls First Nation
    • Métis Nation of Ontario Region 2
    • Mishkeegogamang First Nation
    • Neskantaga First Nation
    • Nibinamik First Nation
    • North Caribou Lake First Nation
    • Wapekeka First Nation
    • Wawakapewin First Nation
    • Weenusk First Nation
    • Webequie First Nation
    • Wunnumin Lake First Nation
    “Ministry”
    means the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks.
    “MNR”
    means the Ministry of Natural Resources
    “Project”
    means the construction, operation and maintenance of the 90 km portion of the Webequie Supply Road, that is not located on the Webequie First Nation reserve.
    “Project Website”
    is the website maintained pursuant to condition 3.1.
    “Proponent”
    has the same meaning as in subsection 1 (1) of the Act.
    “Revised Appendix V”
    means the document titled Webequie Supply Road_Appendix_V_EA-IA Mitigation and Monitoring_Commitments_Table – Updated June 2026, and dated June 9, 2026 and available on the Project Website.
    “Webequie Supply Road”
    means a new all-season road, 107 kilometres in length, and associated supporting infrastructure located from Webequie First Nation to the Ring of Fire area near McFaulds Lake in northern Ontario, as is more particularly described in the Environmental Assessment.
  2. General Requirements
    1. The Proponent shall implement the Project in accordance with the Environmental Assessment which is hereby incorporated into this Notice of Approval by reference, except as provided in the conditions of this Notice of Approval and, consistent with condition 2.5, as may be provided in any other approval or permit that may be issued for this Project.
    2. Should the Proponent wish to make changes to any document required by these conditions after the document has been accepted or approved by the Ministry, the Proponent shall obtain the written approval for the proposed changes from the ministry decision-maker in the condition requiring the document.
    3. For any document required by these conditions to be prepared, submitted and/or posted publicly by the Proponent, the Director may determine that the Proponent is no longer required to prepare, submit or post the document. The Director shall provide written notice of the decision to the Proponent. Until such time as the Proponent has received written notice from the Director, the Proponent must continue to prepare, submit and/or post the document as required by the conditions.
    4. The Proponent shall fulfill all commitments made in the Environmental Assessment and all commitments made in the Revised Appendix V which the Proponent shall make available on the Project Website.
    5. The conditions of this Notice of Approval do not prevent more restrictive conditions being imposed under other statutes.
  3. Public Record
    1. The Proponent shall maintain a Project Website until such a time after commencing its operation as decided by the Director.
    2. Where a document is required by this Notice of Approval, the Proponent shall post the document on the Project Website and shall provide an electronic copy of the document to the Director.
    3. The Environmental Assessment Reference Number 18046 shall be quoted on all documents submitted to the Ministry pursuant to this Notice of Approval.
    4. For every document submitted to the Ministry, the Proponent shall clearly identify which condition of approval the document is meant to fulfill.
  4. Compliance Monitoring Program
    1. The Proponent shall prepare and submit to the Director for approval a compliance monitoring program.
    2. The compliance monitoring program shall be submitted to the Director within 90 days from the Date of Approval or such other date agreed upon by the Director in writing.
    3. The compliance monitoring program shall be a framework template for the annual compliance monitoring reports and shall include the following elements at a minimum:
      1. a brief Project implementation update;
      2. a brief consultation update;
      3. a compliance monitoring table indicating how the conditions in this Notice of Approval are being fulfilled;
      4. a compliance monitoring table indicating how all commitments made in the Environmental Assessment and the Revised Appendix V with respect to mitigation measures, public consultation, and additional studies and work are being fulfilled; and
      5. a summary of all changes to the Project, in accordance with condition 13.
    4. The Director may require the Proponent to amend the compliance monitoring program at any time. Should an amendment be required, the Director will notify the Proponent in writing of the required amendment and the date by which the Proponent must complete and submit the amendment to the Director.
    5. The Proponent shall submit the amended compliance monitoring program to the Director within the time period specified by the Director in the written notice.
    6. The Proponent shall implement the compliance monitoring program, including any amendments to it.
  5. Compliance Reporting
    1. The Proponent shall prepare an annual compliance report using the framework template of the compliance monitoring program (condition 4).
    2. The first compliance report shall be submitted to the Director for review one year following the Date of Approval. Each subsequent annual compliance report shall be submitted to the Ministry for review on the date that is the anniversary of the Date of Approval thereafter or other date as agreed to by the Director. Each report shall cover the previous reporting year.
    3. The Proponent shall submit annual compliance reports until all conditions in this Notice of Approval are satisfied or the Proponent is instructed otherwise in writing by the Director.
    4. The Proponent shall notify the Director in writing when the final annual compliance report is being submitted. The Ministry will confirm whether the annual compliance reporting requirements have been fulfilled and the Director will confirm this in writing to the Proponent.
    5. The Proponent shall retain, either in the Proponent’s office or in another location approved by the Director, copies of the annual compliance reports for each reporting year and any associated documentation of compliance monitoring activities.
    6. The Proponent shall post the annual compliance reports for each reporting year on the Project Website.
    7. The Proponent shall make all documents relied upon in the course of preparing a compliance report available to the Director or a designate in a timely manner when requested to do so by the Ministry.
  6. Environment Committee
    1. The Proponent shall establish the Environment Committee.
    2. The Proponent shall maintain the Environment Committee until such time as the Director may notify the Proponent in writing.
    3. The functions of the Environment Committee will be to:
      1. Facilitate communication and engagement about the activities of the Environment Committee.
      2. Where feasible, facilitate use of Indigenous Knowledge and Indigenous Community land use information in Project activities.
      3. Discuss opportunities to include an Indigenous environmental monitor(s) in Project activities.
      4. Facilitate development of appropriate mitigation measures, monitoring programs, protocols and management plans.
      5. Include opportunities for the Indigenous Communities to contribute to the development and implementation of the Construction Environmental Management Plan (CEMP) and the Operation Environmental Management Plan (OEMP), which are described in the Environmental Assessment.
      6. Facilitate discussions on potential access controls for the Project.
      7. Provide a forum for sharing information regarding activities of the Community Readiness Working Group, which is described in the EA.
      8. Share the results from the annual compliance reporting described in condition 5.
      9. Facilitate discussions and sharing of information as required by condition 7.
      10. Discuss other topics that may be of interest to participants, as agreed to between the participants and the Proponent.
    4. At least 30 days prior to the Proponent holding its first Environment Committee meeting, the Proponent shall invite Indigenous Communities to participate in the Environment Committee.
    5. The Proponent shall hold its first Environment Committee meeting no later than 90 days following the Date of Approval or as is otherwise required by the Director in writing.
    6. The Proponent shall notify the Director in writing at least 30 days prior to the first Environment Committee meeting.
    7. The Proponent shall post notes of each meeting on its Project Website as soon as possible following each meeting.
    8. For the first year after the first Environment Committee meeting, the Proponent shall continue to extend an invitation to the Indigenous Communities to participate in the Environment Committee at least 30 days before each meeting. After the first year, the Proponent, at its discretion, may continue to only send invitations to those Indigenous Communities that have expressed interest in participating. If at any point an Indigenous Community requests to no longer receive these invitations, the Proponent shall document this request and thereafter no longer send invitations to this community. If an Indigenous Community did not respond in the first year but informs the Proponent that it wishes to be invited, the Proponent shall invite the community to participate.
  7. Coordination with Other Road Projects
    1. In the event that either of the Marten Falls Community Access Road (MFCAR; file No. 18047) and Northern Road Link (NRL; file No. 20019) receive approval to proceed the Proponent shall coordinate with the proponent(s) of the approved project(s) on the following matters:
      1. the monitoring of the cumulative effects related to the projects, and
      2. the implementation of any adaptive management measures required to respond to the results of the monitoring mentioned in (a) above.
    2. The Proponent shall share updates with the Environment Committee (condition 6) on the matters described in condition 7.1.
  8. Wetland Emission Monitoring
    1. The Proponent shall work with MNR to develop and shall implement a Wetland Emission Monitoring Plan, to monitor for project-level impacts to peatlands. The Plan will include monitoring of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄) emissions from wetlands before, during, and after construction. Monitoring will be carried out as part of the Proponent’s proposed Wetland Function Monitoring Program.
  9. Mitigation Measures for Locally Rare or Uncommon Vegetation
    1. The Proponent shall work with MNR to broaden mitigation strategies, where feasible, for locally rare or uncommon vegetation communities and associated species of conservation concern in the CEMP and OEMP.
  10. Mitigation Measures for Candidate Significant Wildlife Habitat
    1. The Proponent shall work with MNR to identify candidate Significant Wildlife Habitat (SWH) and their associated adjacent lands within the project footprint and ancillary infrastructure. The Proponent will then work with MNR, and other agencies as appropriate, to identify appropriate mitigation and monitoring measures for these features in the Construction Environmental Management Plan and Operation Environmental Management Plan.
  11. Moose Monitoring Program
    1. The Proponent shall work with MNR to determine the specific components and objectives of the moose monitoring and follow-up program (in the Environmental Assessment, Addendum 5), which will include the following components:
      1. Establish baseline conditions and describe existing knowledge gaps and information needs to assess population-level impacts at the scale of the Regional Study Area as used in the Environmental Assessment (RSA).
      2. Identify and monitor distribution, habitat use, population trends, and mortality within the scale of the Local Study Area as used in the Environmental Assessment (LSA).
      3. Include detailed monitoring protocols, sampling design, professional experience requirements, and timing of: 1) remote camera monitoring, 2) moose collaring, and 3) aerial surveys.
      4. Monitor predators and hunting access in the LSA along with detailed protocols.
      5. Integrate monitoring results and Indigenous Knowledge into adaptive-management frameworks to inform the CEMP/OEMP.
      6. Communicate findings with Indigenous Communities, stakeholders and government.
      7. Contribute to the collective knowledge and support applicable cumulative effects assessments.
         
  12. Eastern Migratory (EM) Caribou
    1. The proponent shall develop and implement an EM caribou mitigation effectiveness and effects monitoring program in the CEMP and OEMP, working with MNR to determine the specific components and objectives of the program, which will include the following components:
      1. Describe existing knowledge gaps for the EM caribou population and what additional information is needed to assess population-level impacts at a Regional Study Area (RSA) scale.
      2. Determine and monitor EM caribou distribution, habitat use (including winter use, migration, and other seasonal habitats), population trends, responses to sensory disturbances, and mortality rates and causes within the Local Study Area (LSA).
      3. Include detailed protocols, sampling design, professional experience requirements, and timing of data collection for EM caribou and predator monitoring efforts.
      4. Monitor predators (e.g., remote cameras, bear hair snares) and hunting access in the LSA to inform the effectiveness of mitigation.
      5. Include mitigation measures specific to EM caribou and their habitat, as identified in the Environmental Assessment, Addendum 7, including winter habitat, migration pathways and season specific mitigation triggers (migration and winter periods).
      6. Explain how results will inform adaptive management and future mitigation (e.g., how future identification of Significant Wildlife Habitat features will be shared with MNR and impact the CEMP/OEMP), contribute to the collective knowledge and support applicable cumulative effects assessments.
      7. EM caribou winter habitat uses, migration corridors, and convergence areas influence the characterization and magnitude determination of effects monitoring component.
      8. To inform mitigation, an EM caribou specific habitat sensitivity assessment should be completed to:
        1. delineate habitat availability for winter use, convergence areas, and migration pathways based on telemetry informed winter distribution using all available data sources for only EM caribou;
        2. quantify the proportion of functionally usable winter habitat that could be affected by Project clearing, fragmentation, and sensory disturbance, including habitat that may be rendered inaccessible if a migration pathway is affected;
        3. identify areas of concentrated or disproportionate use relative to their contribution to annual range extent;
        4. use the results to inform and target habitat specific mitigation measures (e.g., timing restrictions, traffic management, avoidance), as well as monitoring priorities and adaptive management commitments; and
        5. ensure measures consider that conclusions derived from collared caribou data may not represent all habitat use by caribou (i.e., uncollared individuals).
      9. Develop further EM caribou-specific mitigation measures within the CEMP/OEMP to address:
        1. Maintenance of functional migration connectivity through timing- based activity management, traffic controls, disturbance minimization, and permeability measures; and,
        2. Season-specific road risks by:
        3. identifying road segments with elevated EM caribou crossing frequency during winter and migration;
        4. applying seasonal signage, speed reductions, and traffic control measures;
        5. maintaining permeability across movement corridors; and
        6. including monitoring of crossings, near misses, and mortalities with defined adaptive management triggers.
      10. Develop an EM caribou-specific Sensitive Timing Windows table for inclusion in the CEMP and OEMP, or integrate an MNR-provided Sensitive Timing Windows table into the CEMP and OEMP, to address the following:
        1. identify spring migration, fall migration, winter, and seasonal transition periods,
        2. link each timing window to associated habitat use and life processes (e.g., migration, winter use),
        3. use the timing windows to guide construction scheduling, sensory disturbance management, traffic controls, and adaptive management, and,
        4. update associated commitments to reflect this development.
      11. Refine EM caribou relevant spatial and temporal information where it directly supports mitigation implementation for the purpose of informing timing-based activity management, traffic controls, micro siting, and adaptive mitigation (e.g., higher use movement zones, convergence, migration timing windows, winter use areas).
      12. Define population and movement specific monitoring indicators and adaptive management triggers to reflect the differing sensitivity pathways outlined in the Environmental Assessment, Addendum 7 (Appendix A7-1) (e.g., heightened sensitivity of migratory caribou to short duration, high intensity disturbance during migration versus sensitivity of sedentary or contact zone caribou to longer duration inland disturbances).
    2. The Proponent shall work with MNR to differentiate mitigation measures and monitoring activities by caribou ecotype, where applicable, within the CEMP, OEMP and permitting.
    3. Within the detailed design stage, the Proponent shall work with MNR to:
      1. Clarify and standardize seasonal definitions applied to EM caribou using behaviour-based or telemetry-informed criteria where appropriate, with MNR review and endorsement, carrying forward consistent seasonal delineation into mitigation measures within the CEMP and OEMP (e.g., sensitive timing windows).
      2. Repeat seasonal habitat analyses separately for EM caribou.
      3. Incorporate the most up to date EM caribou data (including WSR, NRL, MFCAR and MNR data) into EM caribou analyses, mitigation, monitoring and adaptive management products, and explicitly describe how EM caribou data informs mitigation, monitoring, and adaptive management in the CEMP and OEMP.
      4. Consider Indigenous use of EM caribou, including consideration of cumulative and inter annual effects to EM caribou that may influence migration success, winter habitat use, adult survival, and long-term population persistence across the broader landscape used by Indigenous communities, including outside of the selected caribou Regional Study Area.
      5. Integrate Indigenous Knowledge (e.g., harvest, population trends and habitat use such as migration pathways).
      6. Monitor objectives, indicators, and adaptive management triggers are to be designed to capture potential indirect effects relevant to Indigenous harvesting (e.g., changes in migration efficiency, winter habitat occupancy, or repeated disturbance across seasons) with transparent reporting of results to inform operational planning and mitigation within the CEMP and OEMP.
      7. Recalculate annual home range sizes after rarifying to one fix per day, or use Minimum Convex Polygons. Maximum overlap with the Regional Study Area should then be recalculated.
      8. Recalculate average mortality rates for NRL collars without the seven (07) undetermined collar outcomes.
  13. Change Process
    1. If the Proponent wishes to make any changes to the Project, including to commitments set out in the Environmental Assessment, the Proponent shall follow section 27.5 of the Environmental Assessment (Procedure for Changes to Project).
    2. If the Proponent wishes to make any changes to any of the commitments outlined in the Revised Appendix V the Proponent shall follow section 27.5 of the Environmental Assessment Report (Procedure for Changes to Project) as if the commitments formed part of the Environmental Assessment and the procedure shall be read accordingly.

Dated the 15th day of June 2026 at Toronto.

[Original Signed by]

Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks
777 Bay Street, 5th Floor
Toronto ON M7A 2J3

Approved by O.C. No.   
Date O.C. Approved

Order in Council 929/2026