O. Reg. 311/25: GENERAL MATTERS UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR IN COUNCIL, GEOLOGIC CARBON STORAGE ACT, 2025

ontario regulation 311/25

made under the

Geologic Carbon Storage Act, 2025

Made: December 11, 2025
Filed: December 12, 2025
Published on e-Laws: December 12, 2025
Published in The Ontario Gazette: December 27, 2025

General Matters Under the Authority of the Lieutenant Governor in Council

CONTENTS

1.

Definitions

2.

Location of carbon storage sites

3.

Restrictions on issuance of permits

4.

Minimum CO2 and number of industrial emitters

5.

Consideration of requests, Minister

6.

Applications respecting unitization orders, considerations

7.

Factors to be considered and supporting documentation

8.

Percentage, cl. 13 (3) (c) of the Act

9.

Additional conditions for issuance of unitization orders

10.

Expiry of unitization order

11.

Application for unitization order

12.

Content of unitization order

13.

Amendment or revocation of order

14.

Notice and service

15.

Definitions, ss. 16 and 17

16.

Landowner contact information from MPAC

17.

Rights holders contact information from MPAC

18.

Restrictions on extending period of validity

19.

Insurance coverage

20.

Decisions not requiring a proposal

21.

Definitions, transition provisions (ss. 22 to 24)

22.

Transition, special projects

23.

Transition, well licence and injection permit applications

24.

Transition, environmental compliance approvals

25.

Amendments to this Regulation

26.

Commencement

Schedule 1

Land referred to in paragraph 3 of subsection 3 (2)

 

 

 

Definitions

1. In this Regulation,

“Ministry” means the Ministry of the Minister; (“ministère”)

“unit area operator” means the person, persons or class of persons named or described in a unitization order as being responsible for carrying out the management of the construction, development, use, decommissioning and oversight of a carbon storage site and the remediation and restoration of associated lands. (“exploitant du secteur unitaire”)

Location of carbon storage sites

2. For the purposes of subclause 4 (1) (a) (i) of the Act, carbon storage sites may be located anywhere in the province except within the St. Clair River, the Detroit River or Lake Ontario or within 100 metres of the international boundary between Canada and the United States of America.

Restrictions on issuance of permits

3. (1) A research and evaluation permit or a storage permit shall only be issued under subsection 12 (1) of the Act in respect of a proposed carbon storage site if the proposed carbon storage site is located at least 100 metres away from the water’s edge of the St. Clair River, the Detroit River and Lake Ontario.

(2) A storage permit shall only be issued under subsection 12 (1) of the Act in respect of a proposed carbon storage site if, in addition to the condition set out in subsection (1) being met, the following conditions are met:

1. The storage repository to be used as part of the carbon storage site is a saline aquifer or a depleted oil and gas reservoir within Paleozoic age sedimentary rock.

2. The proposed injection of carbon dioxide into the storage repository that is to be used as part of the carbon storage site is to occur at a depth of at least 800 metres below the ground surface.

3. The proposed carbon storage site is located on, in or under land described in Schedule 1 to this Regulation.

Minimum CO2 and number of industrial emitters

4. (1) For the purposes of clauses 9 (2) (a) and (b) of the Act, a minimum amount of 15 million tonnes of carbon dioxide and at least one industrial emitter are prescribed.

(2) For greater certainty, the minimum amount of 15 million tonnes of carbon dioxide may include carbon dioxide from industrial emitters that is captured by direct air capture facilities.

Consideration of requests, Minister

5. (1) This section applies when the Minister is determining whether to,

(a) issue an authorization;

(b) grant an amendment to an authorization;

(c) renew an authorization;

(d) approve the closure of a carbon storage site;

(e) consent to the transfer of an authorization under subsection 18 (2) of the Act; or

(f) order the transfer of an authorization under subsection 19 (2) of the Act.

(2) When determining whether to grant a request to do anything mentioned in clause (a), (b), (c) or (d) or whether to consent to or order the transfer of an authorization, the Minister shall consider whether the person who made the request or the proposed transferee, as the case may be, would, if the request were granted or the authorization were transferred, perform any resulting obligations or exercise any resulting powers in accordance with the Act and the regulations and in a manner that does not pose an unacceptable risk to public safety, the environment or other land and resource uses.

(3) The Minister shall also take into account the considerations under subsection (2) when determining the terms and conditions to impose on the authorization or when determining whether to make an approval or consent conditional, as the case may be, if the Minister decides to grant the request or consent to or order the transfer.

(4) If the Minister refers an application to the Tribunal under subsection 15 (1) of the Act, the Tribunal shall take into account the considerations under subsection (2) in deciding how to dispose of the application under subsection 15 (4) of the Act and any terms and conditions to impose.

Applications respecting unitization orders, considerations

6. (1) When determining whether to grant a unitization order or to amend a unitization order on the application of the person to whom the unitization order was issued, the Tribunal shall consider whether the persons to whom the order or the amended order would be issued would perform any resulting obligations or exercise any resulting powers in accordance with the Act and the regulations and in a manner that does not pose an unacceptable risk to public safety, the environment or other land and resource uses.

(2) The Tribunal shall also take into account the considerations under subsection (1) when determining the terms and conditions to impose on the unitization order, if it decides to grant a unitization order or to amend a unitization order on the application of the person to whom the unitization order was issued.

Factors to be considered and supporting documentation

7. (1) In this section,

“relevant party” means, as the case may be,

(a) a person who has made a request referred to in clause 5 (1) (a), (b), (c) or (d),

(b) a proposed transferee of an authorization,

(c) a person who has applied for a unitization order, or

(d) a person to whom a unitization order has been issued and who has applied for an amendment to that order.

(2) For the purposes of this section, a person’s compliance history consists of,

(a) any convictions of the person in the previous seven years under the Act or under,

(i) the Mining Act, but only in relation to any activities for which a licence or lease may be issued under Part IV of that Act, or

(ii) any law of another jurisdiction that governs carbon storage, hydrocarbon exploration or the production or geologic storage of hydrocarbons or projects that involve activities that are similar to the activities regulated under the Act; and

(b) the person’s history of complying with the Oil, Gas and Salt Resources Act for the previous seven years, including any convictions under that Act and instances of non-compliance with an order issued under that Act, including court orders under subsection 19 (3.2) of that Act.

(3) For the purposes of this section, a relevant party’s compliance history includes, in addition to the relevant party’s own compliance history,

(a) in the case of a relevant party that is a corporation, the compliance history of each of the corporation’s officers and directors; and

(b) in the case of a relevant party who is an individual, the compliance history of any corporation of which the individual is or was an officer or director for the period during which the relevant party was an officer or director.

(4) A person has been the subject of bankruptcy proceedings for the purposes of this section if the person,

(a) has made an assignment in bankruptcy; or

(b) has ever commenced or been the subject of a proceeding under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (Canada) or the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (Canada).

(5) For the purposes of subsections 5 (2) to (4) and section 6, the Minister or the Tribunal, as the case may be, shall take into account, along with any other relevant considerations, the following:

1. The relevant party’s compliance history.

2. The relevant party’s knowledge of, expertise in or experience with projects that involved activities that are similar to activities associated with the carbon storage site in question.

3. The extent to which the relevant party’s knowledge, expertise and experience demonstrates their ability to,

i. perform research and evaluation activities, carbon storage activities or similar subsurface activities in a manner consistent with the purpose of the Act,

ii. meet any financial obligations associated with the carbon storage site in question, including by paying any fees, rent or other payments required under the Act,

iii. carry out consultation and engagement with Indigenous communities and other stakeholders with respect to the activities to be performed at the carbon storage site in question, and

iv. carry out any obligations under the Act in an open and transparent manner, including by sharing information publicly.

4. The relevant party’s knowledge of the legislative, geological and operational environment in Ontario with respect to subsurface activities, including as demonstrated by previous experience engaging in subsurface activities.

(6) A relevant party shall include the following information with their request or application to the Minister or the Tribunal:

1. A description of the relevant party’s compliance history.

2. A summary of the relevant party’s knowledge of, expertise in or experience with projects that involved activities that are similar to activities associated with the carbon storage site in question.

3. Confirmation that the relevant party has paid all fees, rent or other payments required under the Act.

4. Confirmation that the relevant party and, if the relevant party is a corporation, the relevant party’s officers and directors do not have any outstanding debts owed to the Crown in relation to fees, rent or royalties related to the use or occupation of lands owned or controlled by the Crown or Crown-owned resources.

5. An indication of whether the relevant party has been the subject of bankruptcy proceedings.

6. If the relevant party is a corporation, an indication of whether any of the relevant party’s officers or directors has been the subject of bankruptcy proceedings or whether any other corporation has been the subject of bankruptcy proceedings while one of the relevant party’s officers or directors was an officer or director of that corporation.

7. If the relevant party is an individual, an indication of whether any corporation has been the subject of bankruptcy proceedings while the relevant party was an officer or director of the corporation.

8. A statement confirming that the relevant party’s tax compliance status has been verified with the Ministry of Finance using that Ministry’s tax compliance verification tools and that,

i. the relevant party is not in default of filing a return under a tax statute administered and enforced by the government of Ontario or of paying any tax, penalty or interest assessed under any such statute for which payment arrangements have not been made, and

ii. if the relevant party has a business number with the Canada Revenue Agency, the relevant party is not in default of filing a return under the Taxation Act, 2007, the Income Tax Act (Canada), Part IX of the Excise Tax Act (Canada) or an Act of another province or territory that imposes a tax on corporations and is administered and enforced by the Canada Revenue Agency.

9. If applicable, an indication of whether the relevant party’s insurance required by the Act is currently in place and of any past or imminent cancellation of, or significant reduction to, that insurance.

(7) The Minister may require a person who has requested that the Minister do anything mentioned in clause 5 (1) (a), (b), (c) or (d) or a proposed transferee of an authorization to provide any additional information required to demonstrate that the description of any convictions of laws referred to in subclause (2) (a) (ii) or the statement referred to in paragraph 8 of subsection (6) is true and accurate.

Percentage, cl. 13 (3) (c) of the Act

8. (1) For the purposes of clause 13 (3) (c) of the Act, consent from landowners whose ownership interests represents the majority of the rights to the unit area’s pore space has been obtained if consent has been obtained from landowners whose ownership interest represents at least 70 per cent of the projected volume of the proposed unit area’s pore space.

(2) For the purposes of clause 13 (3) (c) of the Act, the Minister may consent in respect of land for which the Crown is the landowner.

Additional conditions for issuance of unitization orders

9. For the purposes of clause 13 (3) (e) of the Act, the following circumstances are prescribed:

1. The applicant has obtained the Minister’s written consent to the inclusion of any public pore space in the proposed unit area.

2. The activities to be performed in association with the carbon storage site would be permitted under section 4 of the Act.

3. The applicant has obtained or has the right to obtain the surface rights required to perform the activities associated with the carbon storage site, including any monitoring, measurement and verification activities.

4. If any landowners have not consented to unitization, the applicant’s plan to develop a carbon storage site is at a reasonable stage of development to warrant compulsory unitization through the issuance of a unitization order.

5. The proposed unit area operator has applied for or been issued a storage permit for any proposed research and evaluation activities or carbon storage activities proposed to be performed within the unit area or it is reasonable in the circumstances to expect that the proposed unit area operator will apply for a storage permit in a timely manner.

Expiry of unitization order

10. If provided for in the unitization order, a unitization order may expire and does so on the date indicated in the order or as otherwise specified in the order.

Application for unitization order

11. (1) An application for a unitization order under subsection 13 (2) of the Act shall include,

(a) an indication of the proposed unit area operator;

(b) a statement describing the purpose for which the unitization order is sought as well as the need for the unitization order;

(c) a description of the benefits that would be achieved by the issuance of the unitization order, including how the unitization order would facilitate the optimal use of storage repositories in Ontario if issued;

(d) a description of the proposed carbon storage site and its uses, including the planned activities to be performed throughout the life of the carbon storage site, a schedule of those activities, and a description of existing and proposed wells, storage repositories and ancillary works;

(e) a geographical and geological description of the proposed unit area;

(f) a complete description of the data, including geological and geophysical data, used to interpret the boundaries of the proposed space within a storage repository that is to be used for carbon storage;

(g) a map or maps that show,

(i) all of the lands to be used for the proposed carbon storage site and the boundary of the area on the surface under which the proposed space within a storage repository that is to be used for carbon storage will be located,

(ii) the location of all existing and proposed wells and ancillary works associated with the carbon storage site,

(iii) any adjacent lands of which rights to the pore space may be affected by the proposed carbon storage site,

(iv) the proposed unit area, and

(v) the boundary of each property containing a portion of the proposed unit area as well as which portions are subject to each lease, licence or other instrument that is relevant to the rights to or ownership of pore space within the proposed unit area or any other form of rights or ownership that may be affected by the issuance of the unitization order;

(h) a description of any subsurface uses to which the proposed unit area is put or any subsurface activities performed in the proposed unit area, including in respect of mining and mineral development, oil and gas activities and underground geologic storage;

(i) an indication of the landowners and copies of all title documents and any other available leases, licences or other instruments that apply to the proposed unit area, including any authorization issued to the applicant, if applicable;

(j) an indication of how each of the title documents, leases, licences or other instruments referred to in clause (i) relate to the pore space in the proposed unit area;

(k) if applicable, a copy of the Minister’s consent referred to in paragraph 1 of section 9;

(l) the location of any existing wells that have been identified, including previously plugged wells, that may require evaluation, monitoring or corrective action as part of the development and use of the proposed carbon storage site;

(m) a summary of the efforts made to obtain the consent of all landowners and an indication of the percentage of the ownership interest of the projected volume of the proposed unit area’s pore space represented by the landowners that have provided consent;

(n) an indication of the landowners who have provided consent and of each of their respective ownership interests within the projected volume of the proposed unit area’s pore space;

(o) a copy of the proposed unitization agreement, being the agreement that would govern the relationship between the applicant and the landowners;

(p) a copy of any other proposed agreement between the applicant and one or more landowners that relates to the carbon storage site; and

(q) a description of the proposed method to be used to apportion the costs and benefits of the operation of the carbon storage site within the proposed unit area.

(2) The Tribunal may require that the applicant provide additional documents or information relating to the proposed unit area or the proposed unitization agreement that the Tribunal determines are necessary to enable it to consider the application for the unitization order.

(3) Nothing in this section precludes an applicant from providing additional documents or information that the applicant believes is relevant to the Tribunal’s consideration of whether to issue the unitization order.

Content of unitization order

12. A unitization order must,

(a) set out the order’s effective date;

(b) appoint a unit area operator;

(c) identify the carbon storage site in relation to which the unitization order has been issued;

(d) include a geographical and geological description of the unit area;

(e) include a map of the unit area showing its boundaries and the boundary of each property containing a portion of the unit area;

(f) include, as attachments, a copy of all agreements relevant to the carbon storage site in respect of which the unitization order has been issued and that govern the responsibilities of the various parties with respect to the carbon storage site, the costs or benefits of the operation of the carbon storage site within the unit area or any resulting compensation, including the unitization agreement and any other agreements between the landowners and the applicant;

(g) apportion the costs of the hearing;

(h) indicate whether the order expires and, if it does, the date of expiry or other conditions that, if not met by the time indicated in the order, result in its expiry; and

(i) indicate how and to whom notice of the order is to be given.

Amendment or revocation of order

13. (1) The Minister, a person to whom a unitization order is issued or a landowner who is affected by the issuance of the unitization order may apply to the Tribunal to have the unitization order revoked.

(2) The Tribunal may only amend a unitization order to change the unit area operator if the new unit area operator,

(a) has been issued a storage permit permitting them to perform research and evaluation activities or carbon storage activities in the unit area;

(b) has applied for such a storage permit; or

(c) has been proposed as the transferee in an application to transfer such a storage permit.

(3) For greater certainty, in the case of an amendment to a unitization order, the condition set out in subsection (2) applies in addition to the condition that the Tribunal be satisfied that the circumstances set out in subsection 13 (3) of the Act exist with respect to the amended order.

(4) An application to amend or revoke a unitization order shall include,

(a) a description of the amendment or an indication that the order’s revocation is being sought, along with the reasons for the application; and

(b) the anticipated impacts on persons currently affected by the order, including persons who are party to a unitization agreement, that will result from granting the application.

Notice and service

14. (1) The Tribunal may, by order, require the applicant to give notice of an application for a unitization order or an application to amend or revoke a unitization order to parties who, in the opinion of the Tribunal, may be directly affected by the application and may specify in the order the contents of the notice and the time period and manner in which the applicant must serve the notice on the interested parties.

(2) If an order under subsection (1) identifies landowners as parties who may be directly affected by the application, the order must specify the lands in respect of which the landowners are to be notified by use of property descriptions or by identifying the boundary of the lands on a map that is drawn to scale.

Definitions, ss. 16 and 17

15. In sections 16 and 17,

“MPAC” means the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation; (“Société”)

“notification order” means an order issued under section 14. (“ordonnance donnant avis”)

Landowner contact information from MPAC

16. (1) MPAC shall disclose to an applicant landowners’ names and addresses that the applicant requires in order to comply with a notification order if the applicant has,

(a) made a written request to MPAC for the information;

(b) agreed to any licensing terms imposed by MPAC with respect to the information; and

(c) paid any fees required by MPAC for the information.

(2) The applicant shall only use the information disclosed under subsection (1) for the purposes of complying with any notification requirements set out in the notification order.

(3) The applicant shall immediately dispose of any personal information disclosed under subsection (1) in the form in which the information was provided to the applicant by MPAC once any notification requirements set out in the notification order have been complied with.

Rights holders contact information from MPAC

17. Upon written request from the Minister, MPAC shall disclose to the Ministry the names and addresses of the current owners of the surface rights from which the rights to pore space are proposed to be taken by a regulation made under subsection 8 (1) of the Act for the purposes of notifying those owners if the Ministry has,

(a) agreed to any licensing terms imposed by MPAC with respect to the information; and

(b) paid any fees required by MPAC for the information.

Restrictions on extending period of validity

18. For the purposes of subsection 17 (2) of the Act, the following restrictions are prescribed:

1. The Minister may only extend the period of validity of a research and evaluation licence or a research and evaluation permit once and only for a maximum period of one year.

2. The Minister may only extend the period of validity of a storage licence or a storage permit one time following its issuance and, after that, only one time following each subsequent renewal of the licence or permit. Each extension of a storage licence or a storage permit must not exceed two years.

Insurance coverage

19. (1) For the purposes of section 27 of the Act, a permit holder shall obtain and maintain insurance that is at least as comprehensive as the coverage identified in the applicable recommendations on insurance coverage and in, at a minimum, the amounts identified in those recommendations.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), the applicable recommendations on insurance coverage are, subject to subsection (3), those set out in the most recent of the following documents:

1. Any report regarding insurance coverage that was included in the application for the permit.

2. Any report regarding insurance coverage that was included in an application to amend the permit that was granted by the Minister.

3. Any expert report prepared following a review of a report referred to in paragraph 1 or 2.

(3) In the event that a report regarding insurance coverage and an expert report prepared following a review of the report regarding insurance coverage differ in terms of their recommendations, the applicable recommendations on insurance coverage shall be the recommendations from one or both reports that, collectively, provide for the greatest breadth of insurance coverage and highest amounts of insurance coverage.

(4) For greater certainty, the transfer of a permit does not affect the insurance coverage that the permit holder to whom the permit has been transferred is required to obtain and maintain.

(5) The Minister shall not issue or amend a permit, or approve or order the transfer of a permit, unless the Minister is satisfied that the applicant for the permit, the permit holder or the proposed transferee, as the case may be, will have in place the insurance coverage required by this section on or before the day on which the permit or amendment is to be issued or granted or the transfer is to take place.

(6) The permit holder shall notify the Ministry within 10 days after,

(a) any change is made to the insurance coverage, regardless of whether initiated by the permit holder or the insurer; and

(b) any notification is received from the insurer regarding an upcoming change to the insurance coverage.

Decisions not requiring a notice of proposal

20. For the purposes of paragraph 2 of subsection 30 (4) of the Act, the Minister may carry out the following decisions without giving a notice of proposal under subsection 30 (1) of the Act:

1. A decision to amend an authorization, including any terms and conditions of the authorization, exactly as had been requested by the authorization holder.

2. A decision to amend an authorization solely as necessary to facilitate the transfer of the authorization under section 18 or subsection 19 (2) of the Act.

Definitions, transition provisions (ss. 22 to 24)

21. In sections 22 to 24,

“injection permit” means a permit referred to in section 11 of the Oil, Gas and Salt Resources Act; (“permis de travaux d’injection”)

“Special Projects Regulation” means Ontario Regulation 425/23 (Special Projects) made under the Oil, Gas and Salt Resources Act; (“règlement sur les travaux particuliers”)

“transition period” means the period beginning on January 1, 2026 and ending on December 31, 2030; (“période de transition”)

“well licence” means a licence referred to in section 10 of the Oil, Gas and Salt Resources Act. (“licence relative à un puits”)

Transition, special projects

22. (1) A person who, before the transition period, was issued a designation under section 11.1 of the Oil, Gas and Salt Resources Act designating a project as a special project may, during the transition period, perform research and evaluation activities in relation to that special project without a research and evaluation permit, provided that the research and evaluation activities are performed under the authority of a well licence and, if necessary based on the nature of the activities, an injection permit that are issued in respect of the special project.

(2) Subsection (1) ceases to apply to a person referred to in that subsection, as it relates to a specific special project, if the person is issued a research and evaluation permit in respect of that special project.

(3) For greater certainty, a person referred to in subsection (1) may apply for a research and evaluation permit in respect of a special project at any time during the transition period.

Transition, well licence and injection permit applications

23. (1) Subject to subsection (5), an application for a well licence, as well as an application for an injection permit, if applicable, are deemed to be an application for a research and evaluation permit that meets any requirements established by the regulations for submission of the application to the Minister if,

(a) the application or applications relate to a special project that was designated as such under section 11.1 of the Oil, Gas and Salt Resources Act before the transition period; and

(b) before the transition period,

(i) the application or applications were submitted to the Ministry for preliminary assessment under section 11 of the Special Projects Regulation and, in the Minister’s opinion, the application or applications met all of the requirements of section 10 of the Special Projects Regulation, and

(ii) the applicant has notified the Ministry, no later than July 1, 2026, that the applicant intends to relinquish the applicant’s special project designation and instead seek to perform research and evaluation activities in accordance with the Act.

(2) For greater certainty, the report that, under clause 10 (4) (d) of the Special Projects Regulation, accompanied the application for a well licence and, if applicable, the report that accompanied the application for an injection permit under that clause are deemed to constitute any similar report required to be included by the regulations in an application for a research and evaluation permit.

(3) If an application or applications are deemed to be an application for a research and evaluation permit under subsection (1), the applicant is exempt from the requirement to pay any application fee for the research and evaluation permit.

(4) Within 15 days after having received the notification from the applicant referred to in subclause (1) (b) (ii), the Ministry shall provide the applicant with a notice identifying any Indigenous communities or organisations or ministries or agencies of the provincial or federal government or of neighbouring provinces or states identified by Ministry personnel that must be notified in accordance with the requirements prescribed for the purposes of clause 12 (1) (b) of the Act.

(5) If the applicant fails to give notice of the application for a research and evaluation permit in accordance with the requirements prescribed for the purposes of clause 12 (1) (b) of the Act within six months after receiving the notice referred to in subsection (4), the application for a well licence and any application for an injection permit are no longer deemed to be an application for a research and evaluation permit and the applicant is no longer exempt from the requirement referred to in subsection (3).

Transition, environmental compliance approvals

24. (1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), a person may, without a research and evaluation permit, perform research and evaluation activities in association with a project during the transition period if,

(a) the project is authorized by an environmental compliance approval under the Environmental Protection Act that was issued before the transition period and that authorizes the activities referred to in subparagraph 1 iii of subsection 3 (1) of the Act; and

(b) the project is in Precambrian age ultramafic rock.

(2) Effective the earlier of July 1, 2027 and the day the environmental compliance approval ceases to be in effect, the exemption referred to in subsection (1) ceases to apply with respect to the project except with respect to monitoring activities and the maintenance and decommissioning of wells, storage repositories and ancillary works that form part of the project.

(3) A person ceases to be exempt under subsection (1) from the requirement to hold a research and evaluation permit to perform any research and evaluation activities in association with the project authorized by the environmental compliance approval if the person fails to ensure that,

(a) the research and evaluation activities are performed in accordance with the environmental compliance approval and any supporting documentation referred to in the approval; or

(b) wells are abandoned in accordance with the requirements of,

(i) the environmental compliance approval,

(ii) Regulation 903 of the Revised Regulations of Ontario, 1990 (Wells) made under the Ontario Water Resources Act, and

(iii) any other applicable provincial or federal legislation, other than the Act and its regulations, or any applicable municipal by-law.

(4) For greater certainty, a person who is exempt under subsection (1) from the requirement to hold a research and evaluation permit in respect of a project may apply for a research and evaluation permit in respect of the project at any time during the transition period.

(5) Subsection (1) ceases to apply in respect of a project if a research and evaluation permit is issued in respect of the project.

Amendments to this Regulation

25. (1) Subsection 5 (2) of this Regulation is amended by striking out “or other land and resource uses” at the end and substituting “other land and resource uses or the Carbon Storage Stewardship Fund”.

(2) Subsection 6 (1) of this Regulation is amended by striking out “or other land and resource uses” at the end and substituting “other land and resource uses or the Carbon Storage Stewardship Fund”.

(3) Paragraph 3 of subsection 7 (6) of this Regulation is amended by adding “including payments to the Carbon Storage Stewardship Fund” at the end.

Commencement

26. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, this Regulation comes into force on the later of the day subsection 4 (1) of Schedule 2 (Geologic Carbon Storage Act, 2025) to the Resource Management and Safety Act, 2025 comes into force and the day this Regulation is filed.

(2) Section 25 comes into force on the later of the day subsection 59 (1) of Schedule 2 (Geologic Carbon Storage Act, 2025) to the Resource Management and Safety Act, 2025 comes into force and the day this Regulation is filed.

Schedule 1
Land referred to in paragraph 3 of subsection 3 (2)

All lands, including lands under water, lying within the perimeter as follows:

Beginning at the most southeasterly point of the Niagara Escarpment Plan, Map 1, approved and ordered June 1, 2017 (Order in Council 1026/2017), more particularly described as the northeasterly corner of Part 4 on Reference Plan 30R-10558;

thence easterly along the northerly limit of Part 5 on Reference Plan 30R-10558 to a point on the international boundary between Canada and the United States of America, more particularly described as the northeasterly corner of Part 5 on Reference Plan 30R-10558;

thence in a southerly direction along the international boundary between Canada and the United States of America to Boundary Turning Point 121, as ascertained and re-established by the International Waterways Commission pursuant to Article IV of the Treaty between the United States of America and Great Britain, signed April 11, 1908, and shown on International Boundary between the United States of America and Dominion of Canada through the Saint Lawrence River and Great Lakes, Sheet 10, Niagara River, adopted August 15, 1913;

thence continuing along the international boundary between Canada and the United States of America to Boundary Turning Point 217, as ascertained and re-established by the International Waterways Commission pursuant to Article IV of the Treaty between the United States and Great Britain, signed April 11, 1908, and shown on International Boundary between the United States and Dominion of Canada through the Saint Lawrence River and Great Lakes, Sheet 20, Lake Huron, adopted August 15, 1913;

thence easterly to the most northwesterly point of the Niagara Escarpment Plan, Map 9, approved and ordered June 1, 2017 (Order in Council 1026/2017), more particularly described as the intersection of the water’s edge of Lake Huron with northing 5017965m, referenced to NAD83(CSRS), UTM Zone 17N;

thence in a general southeasterly direction following the westerly limit of the Niagara Escarpment Plan, Maps 1 to 9, approved and ordered June 1, 2017 (Order in Council 1026/2017) to the place of beginning.