On the recommendation of the undersigned, the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, by and with the advice and concurrence of the Executive Council of Ontario, orders that:

Whereas Ontario considers it critical to expand Ontario’s transmission system to provide a reliable and adequate supply of electricity to Northern Ontario to support economic growth in the region, including the rapidly growing mining sector and the future and potential growth in the hydroelectric generation sector;

And whereas the Independent Electricity System Operator, the organization responsible for ensuring the reliability of Ontario’s electricity grid, has issued the Northwest Region Integrated Regional Resource Plan Addendum for the North of Dryden Sub-Region, which identified an urgent need for new transmission infrastructure in the Red Lake area to address imminent capacity constraints, ensure regional system reliability, and support critical mining projects in the region;

And whereas the Ministry of Energy and Mines has published its Integrated Energy Plan, Energy for Generations: Ontario’s Integrated Plan to Power the Strongest Economy in the G7, dated June 12, 2025, in which the Government identified the Red Lake area in northwestern Ontario as a key region for Ontario’s Critical Minerals Strategy, with several mining projects that will create large electricity demands on short timelines, and signaled its plan to take actions designed to support a transmission system that is flexible, reliable, and ready to scale;

And whereas the Government has determined that the development of the transmission project should be undertaken by a transmitter that is best positioned to ensure that the infrastructure can be developed expediently and on a timeline that supports economic growth;

And whereas the Government has determined that the preferred manner of proceeding is to require Hydro One Networks Inc. to undertake the development of the transmission project, including taking any and all steps that are deemed to be necessary and desirable in order to seek required approvals and fulfilling, as part of the environmental assessment process and other applicable provincial permits, any procedural aspects of the Crown’s duty to consult potentially impacted Indigenous communities that may be delegated to it;

And whereas the Minister of Energy and Mines has, with the approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, the authority to issue Directives pursuant to section 28.6.1 of the Ontario Energy Board Act, 1998, which relate to the construction, expansion or re-enforcement of transmission systems;

Now therefore the Directive attached hereto is approved and shall be and is effective as of the date hereof.

Minister's Directive

Ministry of Energy and Mines

Approved and Ordered: March 12, 2026