Published plans and annual reports 2024–2025: Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks

Ministry Overview

Ministry’s Vision

The vision of the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks is an Ontario with clean and safe air, land and water that leads to healthier communities and economic prosperity.

Purpose and priorities

The Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks is the lead ministry responsible for restoring, protecting and enhancing the environment to ensure public health and environmental quality.

The ministry sets clear policies, standards, rules and regulations to protect the environment and encourage conservation activities. Along with monitoring the environment and enforcing these rules, the ministry looks for innovative approaches to complement legislation and regulations.

Ministry divisions and programs

The ministry is comprised of seven (7) specialized divisions that develop and implement environmental legislation, regulations, standards, policies, guidelines, and programs.

Climate Change and Resiliency Division

This division leads the government’s efforts to lower greenhouse gas emissions to meet our 2030 target, and to help communities prepare for the impacts of climate change.

We will:

• continue to implement the Emissions Performance Standards (EPS) program. The EPS program will reduce industrial emissions while saving Ontario over $1B compared to the federal regulation it has replaced.
• using proceeds generated by the EPS program, work with industry to identify and support transformational projects that reduce emissions and increase competitiveness.
• continue to work with communities around the Great Lakes to promote the use of adaptive management tools and to identify best practices to enhance their resilience to climate change impacts, as well as increasing their ability to implement these tools.
• build on the province’s Climate Change Impact Assessment and support ongoing work to better understand where and how Ontario is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

Land and Water Division

This division protects the diversity of resources in Ontario, including species at risk, provincial parks and conservation reserves, Ontario’s drinking water sources, the Great Lakes and inland waters, supporting conservation efforts and preserving Ontario’s rich biodiversity.

We will:

• create the first new full-service, operating provincial park in over 40 years by taking steps to turn Bigwind Lake Provincial Park into an operating park.
• invest $19 million over three years to create Ontario’s first Urban Provincial Park in the Township of Uxbridge.
• continue to invest in Ontario Parks infrastructure to help meet growing demand and improve the visitor experience through the investment of $50 million over three years to build new campgrounds. These investments would add approximately 300 new campsites at seven of our popular provincial parks and provide $9 million over three years to electrify approximately 800 campsites in five other popular provincial parks.
• continue the Greenlands Conservation Partnership, with an additional $20 million over the next four years. The investment will allow conservation partners to raise matching private‐sector contributions to secure new, privately owned natural areas, such as wetlands, grasslands and forests, and ensure they are protected and managed for the future.
• promote biodiversity conservation, outdoor recreation, and tourism throughout the province through the expansion of Ontario’s system of protected areas. 
• provide up to $4.5 million in funding through the Species at Risk Stewardship Program to support non-profit organizations, Indigenous communities and other organizations that are working to help protect and recover species at risk and their habitat through local projects.
• continue to invest $29 million (between 2023 and 2027) to support on-the-ground habitat restoration, protection and other conservation activities for boreal caribou in Ontario, as part of the implementation of the Canada-Ontario Conservation Agreement. This includes $5 million for each of the next three years for projects funded through the Caribou Conservation Stewardship Program.
• develop an online system to speed up and digitize the Endangered Species Act, 2007 permit applications and authorization process.
• support projects funded through the Wetlands Conservation Partner Program with new and ongoing partners.
• continue to implement the 2021 Canada-Ontario Agreement on Great Lakes Water Quality and Ecosystem Health (COA) with a focus on building climate resilience, managing nutrients, reducing plastic pollution and excess road salt, improving wastewater and stormwater management, strengthening First Nations and Métis engagement in implementation, and completing all environmental clean-up actions in six degraded Areas of Concern.
• support and fund a small number of First Nations and other partners to use the ministry’s online Best Practices guide, who will conduct technical studies to map out vulnerable areas around local sources of drinking water, identify risks and develop an action plan to address those risks.  
• continue to support and fund source protection authorities to enable them to deliver on their responsibilities under the Clean Water Act, 2006 to protect local sources of drinking water from contamination and depletion and ensure source protection plans are implemented and maintained.
• continue to implement the Great Lakes Local Action Fund, enabling community-based actions to help protect the Great Lakes.
• continue to implement the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan by funding actions on the ground through partnerships, research and monitoring environmental indicators to track change over time and sharing information to support evidence-based decision making.
• continue to invest in a Lake Simcoe phosphorous reduction project, which will help reduce phosphorus discharges from the Holland River into Lake Simcoe.

Drinking Water and Environmental Compliance Division

This division works to protect and support clean air, land and water, including safe drinking water, through provincial oversight and the delivery of compliance and enforcement programs.

We are working to strengthen the province’s compliance and enforcement program to hold polluters accountable and ensure compliance with environmental laws.

We will:

• continue to plan and carry out risk-based compliance and enforcement programs to protect the environment and human health, including taking action to address non-compliance and providing transparency through mandatory public reporting.
• continue work on compliance initiatives, including strategic expansion of administrative penalties and modernizing the ministry’s compliance policies that inform program delivery.
• continue to provide 24/7 response to spills and pollution incident reports through the Spills Action Centre.
• continue to safeguard drinking water through the enforcement of the Safe Drinking Water Act.
• invest over $13 million to continue wastewater surveillance for six months and add respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) as a new health target.
• in collaboration with the Walkerton Clean Water Centre and the Ontario Clean Water Agency, continue to provide First Nations communities, at their request, with access to training and provincial expertise related to water and wastewater systems. This includes a multi-year project to enhance their capacity to address long-term drinking water advisories on reserves and improve the long-term sustainability of their water infrastructure.
• update the Ontario’s air quality monitoring technical guidance to emitters and operators responsible for air monitoring in Ontario, providing a framework for consistent air contaminant monitoring across the province, and reflecting the most recent advances in science and technology.
• reinvest in the Ontario Community Environment Fund by making available more than $2 million in funds collected from environmental penalties to support community projects that improve the environment and give people opportunities to experience nature, such as shoreline cleanups, habitat restoration and tree planting. 
• continue to work with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the agricultural sector to reduce regulatory burdens while still being protective of the environment.

Environmental Assessment and Permissions Division

This division leads the transformation of Ontario’s environmental permissions using a risk-based, client-centred, electronic service delivery model, balancing strong environmental oversight with modernizing review processes, ensuring priority projects are built faster.

We will:

• continue to expand the types of activities that are regulated through permit-by-rule, allowing more entities that currently need an environmental compliance approval, permit to take water, record of site condition, or renewable energy approval to begin operation immediately upon self-registration without the need for ministry review.
• complete the transition to a consolidated linear infrastructure approach for municipal stormwater and sewage collection systems, to eliminate the need for developers to get an approval from the province.
• continue to issue environmental permissions (e.g., environmental compliance approvals, permits to take water) in a timely manner.
• expand the use of flexible permissions to allow companies to make certain changes to their operations without having to amend their permissions.
• continue supporting proposed priority projects that attract large new investments and create jobs in Ontario, such as mining and electric vehicle battery manufacturing facilities by providing white glove service to help them navigate and fast track their environmental permissions and approvals and supporting our partners at the Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade and Ministry of Mines.
• continue to work with MINES to support the implementation of their critical minerals strategy, including identifying opportunities to streamline environmental permissions.
• continue supporting the auto sector by moving facilities to consolidated and streamlined approvals that work with their environmental management systems. 
• continue to improve the online permissions application system to speed up and improve environmental permissions applications.
• continue to effectively deliver the environmental assessment program in accordance with its regulatory requirements including facilitating decision packages for Minister and Cabinet approvals in a timely manner.
• continue our efforts to exempt low-impact projects from the environmental assessment (EA) process and reduce duplication with other approvals processes by amending the remaining Class EAs.
• develop a new environmental assessment regulation for municipal infrastructure to support Ontario’s rapidly growing population.
• cut overall timelines for the comprehensive EA process by improving guidance for proponents and reviewing our internal processes.
• developing sector-based terms of reference to significantly reduce the amount of time to complete environmental assessment requirements for projects, while also setting out the ministry’s standards and expectations, allowing for meaningful consultation and remaining protective of the environment.

Environmental Sciences and Standards Division

This division is responsible for providing scientific, technical and laboratory expertise to support policy and operational decision making and also for monitoring and reporting on the state of Ontario’s environment.

We will:

• invest in state-of-the-art monitoring and analytical equipment to support policy and operational efforts.
• publish the next Air Quality in Ontario Report (2022 data).
• continue working to address Sarnia Area Environment Health Project recommendations about reducing air pollution in the Sarnia area. 
• update the approach for modelling open flares to allow regulated facilities to better consider the unique properties and behaviour of flares.
• enhance Ontario’s Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) public reporting program to provide an earlier and better indication of health risks due to wildfire smoke and local industrial emissions.
• reinforce our existing air quality monitoring network to ensure that we can continue to collect, analyze and report on air pollution data now and into the future, and enhance our network with new technologies for more robust monitoring of key contaminants and air pollution events, such as wildfires.
• improve plain-language information and options for brownfields property owners and consultants to help them complete risk assessments and redevelop properties quicker.
• launch broader scale pilot of hand-held probes to support blue-green algae identification in the field in order to support faster evidence sharing with local public health units to inform protection of public health decisions.
• continue scientific and technical analyses and develop tools to enable delivery of ministry policy and programming and support infrastructure and land development.
• continue to support conservation and environmental planning by collecting information on greenhouse gas emissions and carbon storage in the Hudson Bay Lowlands and Ring of Fire.
• continue partnerships with District Municipality of Muskoka and Federation of Ontario Cottagers’ Associations to support citizen science for inland lakes monitoring.
• continue to work with Conservation Authorities and Environment and Climate Change Canada to monitor water quality in the Great Lakes, with particular focus on Lake Erie.
• improve understanding of environmental impacts to vulnerable inland lakes from stressors such as road salt application and climate change.
   

Environmental Policy Division

This division leads the development of policy that protects air, land and water in Ontario, including operational policy and program development and implementation.

We will:

• work with producers and the Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority to ensure smooth implementation of Ontario’s new extended producer responsibility framework, including the transition of the blue box program to producer responsibility which started on July 1, 2023.
• work with the Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority to help reduce burden for businesses while continuing to protect consumers and the environment.
• educate Ontarians about the impacts of litter and waste in the natural environment and encourage them to take action to address it as part of the Provincial Day of Action on Litter.
• continue our work with the public, Indigenous communities, industry, and others to drive strategies that better protect air quality and address unique challenges in communities by creating tailored solutions. 
• continue to implement our excess soils framework to support the proper management of excess soils and ensure valuable resources don’t go to waste.
• lead intergovernmental and Indigenous relations for the ministry to build and maintain effective, meaningful relationships to advance Ontario’s priorities.
• continue to administer the Environmental Bill of Rights, ensuring the public’s ability to participate in environmentally significant decision-making.
• oversee Ontario’s Drinking Water and Wastewater Certification Program.

Corporate Management Division

This division provides business supports to the entire ministry including business and fiscal planning, financial management and controllership, agency governance, French language services, strategic human resources, facilities services, information management, emergency management, and corporate and capital projects.

We will:

• continue to support the implementation of the Ontario Public Service (OPS) People Plan, performance management, employee engagement, health and safety, mental health in the workplace, and labour relations.
• support the ministry in delivering on the key commitments of the OPS Code of Conduct and Leadership Pledge.
• lead the ministry’s business and fiscal planning process, provide financial oversight, and manage the ministry’s procurement, transfer payment and agency governance to ensure a robust financial position of the Ministry.
• provide oversight for all facilities-related matters at the existing science complex and explore opportunities to modernize the facility to support more efficient operations.
• drive modernization efforts on information management and provide oversight of digital transformation.
• provide emergency management oversight, coordinate Freedom of Information requests made by the public, and provide guidance to meet requirements set out in the French Language Services Act as well as translations services. 

2024-25 strategic plan

The Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks continues to take action to protect Ontario’s air, land, water and species at risk for future generations. The ministry also continues to look for ways to more effectively serve the regulated community and accelerate projects in key sectors like housing and infrastructure with streamlined environmental approvals.

In 2024-25, the ministry will deliver on these priorities through effective environmental monitoring, risk-based compliance and enforcement, evidence-based policies and high-quality programs that balance the best outcomes for both the environment and economy.

Notes: including statutory appropriations, consolidation, and other adjustments (not including assets). Numbers may not add due to rounding.

Detailed financial information

Table 2: Combined operating and capital summary by vote

Historic trend analysis data

For additional financial information, see:

• Expenditure Estimates
• Public Accounts of Ontario: past editions
• 2023 Ontario Budget

Agencies, boards and commissions (ABCs)

Note: Detailed financial information for the Species Conservation Action Agency (also known as the Species at Risk Conservation Trust), Ontario Clean Water Agency and Walkerton Clean Water Centre is provided in their Business Plans.

Legislation administered by the ministry

• Adams Mine Lake Act, 2004
• Cap and Trade Cancellation Act, 2018
• Capital Investment Plan Act, 1993 (Part IV re: Ontario Clean Water Agency only)
• Clean Water Act, 2006
• Endangered Species Act, 2007
• English and Wabigoon Rivers Remediation Funding Act, 2017
• Environmental Assessment Act
• Environmental Bill of Rights, 1993
• Environmental Protection Act
• Great Lakes Protection Act, 2015
• Kawartha Highlands Signature Site Park Act, 2003
• Keeping Polystyrene out of Ontario’s Lakes and Rivers Act, 2021
• Lake Simcoe Protection Act, 2008
• Ministry of the Environment Act
• Ministry of Natural Resources Act (together with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry)
• Municipal Water and Sewage Transfer Act, 1997
• Nutrient Management Act, 2002 (together with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs)
• Ontario Water Resources Act
• Pesticides Act
• Provincial Day of Action on Litter Act, 2019
• Provincial Parks and Conservation Reserves Act, 2006
• Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016
• Safe Drinking Water Act, 2002
• Supporting Growth and Housing in York and Durham Regions Act, 2022
• Waste Diversion Transition Act, 2016
• Water Opportunities Act, 2010 (except for Part II)

Ministry organization chart

Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks — April 15, 2024.

The chart shows the following hierarchical structure with the top level assigned to the Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks.

• Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks — Honourable Andrea Khanjin
  • Group of 9 government entities
    • Advisory Council on Drinking Water Quality & Testing Standards
    • Committee On Status of Species At Risk Ontario
    • Lake Simcoe Coordinating Committee
    • Lake Simcoe Science Committee
    • Ontario Clean Water Agency
    • Ontario Parks Board of Directors
    • Species At Risk Program Advisory Committee
    • Species Conservation Action Agency
    • Walkerton Clean Water Centre
  • Deputy Minister — S. Imbrogno
    • Communications Branch — A. Brunetti A
    • Legal Services Branch — S. Luciw
    • Land and Resources Cluster — C. DeRose
    • Resource Audit Branch — E. Sheu
    • Environmental Policy Division — ADM — A. Pilla
      • Air Policy and Programs Branch — D. McDonald
      • Environmental Policy Branch — R. Kurtes
      • Program Management Branch — A. Parks A
      • Resource Recovery Policy Branch — C. O’Hara
      • Strategic Policy and Partnership Branch — M. Stickings
    • Climate Change and Resiliency Division — ADM — A. Wood
      • Adaptation & Resilience Branch — T. North
      • Climate Change Policy Branch — P. Fancott
      • Climate Change Programs and Partnerships Branch — C. Steinman
      • Environmental Economics Branch —  S. Beaton
      • Financial Instruments Branch — D. Cayley A
    • Land and Water Division — ADM — C. Stuart
      • Conservation and Source Protection Branch — K. Service
      • Great Lakes & Inland Waters Branch — L. Luong
      • Ontario Parks Growth and Partnerships Branch - C. Beckett
      • Ontario Parks Operations Branch — J. Travers
      • Species at Risk Branch — T. Coulter
    • Environmental Sciences and Standards Division — ADM — O. Salamon
      • Environmental Monitoring and Reporting Branch — J. Ward
      • Laboratory Services Branch — J. Odumeru
      • Technical Assessment & Standards Development Branch — J. Schroeder
    • Environmental Assessment and Permissions Division — ADM — L. Trevisan
      • Client Services & Permissions Branch — H. Malcolmson
      • Environmental Assessment Branch — K. O’ Neill
      • Environmental Assessment Modernization Branch — A. Cross A
      • Environmental Permissions Branch — B. Aminvaziri
    • Drinking Water & Environmental Compliance Division — ADM / Chief Drinking Water Inspector — S. Carrasco
      • Divisional Compliance Branch — M. Evers
      • Environmental Investigations and Enforcement Branch — D. Manol A
      • Indigenous Drinking Water Project Office — I. Prashad
      • Strategic Delivery Branch — N. Aguda A
      • Central Region —  R. Fletcher A
      • Eastern Region — P. Taylor
      • Northern Region — J. Williamson
      • Southwest Region — J. Ritchie A
      • West Central Region — L. Hussain
    • Corporate Management Division — ADM / Chief Administrative Officer — S. Tao
      • Business & Fiscal Planning Branch — M. Edwards
      • Corporate Services Branc — O. Silva
      • Information Management Strategy Branch — A. Roberts A
      • Science Complex Capital Project Office — M. Hylton A
      • Strategic Human Resources Branch — J. LeGris

Appendix: 2023–2024 Annual report

2023–24 Results

In 2023-24, the ministry continued our work to protect our land, air and water, and ensuring a safe, healthy, and clean environment right now and for future generations, while driving innovation and supporting families and businesses.

In working with our partners, communities, organizations and industry, we have been able to achieve significant progress to deliver on our priority initiatives and risen to meet new challenges.

Progress to date

The actions below illustrate how our accomplishments over the past year have contributed towards addressing our environmental priorities.

Climate Change and Resiliency Division

We have:

• concluded activities for the first compliance year (2022) under the Emissions Performance Standards program and proposed improvements in the form of regulatory amendments that would clarify requirements, improve program efficiency, and address fundamental changes in some Ontario industries.
• worked with industries to support their efforts to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by reducing and phasing out the use of coal in their operations. For example, together with our partners at the Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, the province committed to investing up to $500 million in ArcelorMittal Dofasco to help the company replace its coal-fed coke ovens and blast furnaces with an electric arc furnace. This will result in significant CO2 emission reductions; about three million tonnes a year by 2030 – the same as taking almost 1 million cars off the road.
• worked with the Ministry of Northern Development, Ministry of Mines, Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry and Ministry of Energy to secure a major investment in clean steelmaking technology in Sault Ste. Marie, which will lead to substantial reduction in greenhouse gases – removing up to an additional three million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions upon project completion.
• changed Ontario’s alternative low-carbon fuels regulation to simplify the approvals process for manufacturers of cement, lime, iron and steel, to make it easier to substitute the use of coal and petroleum coke with fuels derived from materials that would otherwise be disposed in landfills.
• as part of the 2021 Canada-Ontario Agreement on Great Lakes Water Quality and Ecosystem Health, committed to working with communities around the Great Lakes to promote the use of adaptive management tools and to identify best practices to enhance their resilience to climate change impacts, as well as increasing their ability to implement these tools.
• completed Ontario’s first-ever provincial level, multi-sector climate change impact assessment to identify where the province is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
• provided secretariat support for an advisory panel on climate change that provided the Minister with expert advice on the implementation of the province’s climate change actions, especially on how Ontario can prepare for the costs and impacts of climate change. 
• issued $14.95 billion in green bonds to help finance public transit initiatives, extreme-weather resistant infrastructure, and energy efficiency and conservation projects.

Land and Water Division

We have:

• expanded the popular Ontario Parks online vehicle permit parking program to 22 parks to ensure park visitors have guaranteed daytime parking and park access. Last year alone over 858,000 daily vehicle permits were sold for parks offering advanced Daily Vehicle permitting.
• delivered over 1,500 school programs to over 37,000 Ontario school children about Ontario’s natural and cultural heritage through the Ontario Parks Discovery School Program.
• expanded provincial parks and conserved land, including establishing two new protected areas, Monarch Point Conservation Reserve and Alfred Bog Provincial Park, and additions to Killbear Provincial Park and Mellon Lake Conservation Reserve, to help protect the province’s biodiversity and provide new opportunities for Ontarians to enjoy the great outdoors. These additions total nearly 13,000 acres, which is the equivalent to the size of Peterborough or Sault Ste Marie.
• began work to advance the expansion of Ontario’s protected areas system, support protected areas accounting and land acquisition.
• generated over $399,000 in merchandise sales through the Ontario Parks online store that were then redirected right back into protecting provincial parks and conservation reserves.
• provided free day use entry to provincial parks across the province on July 21, 2023, encouraging Ontarians to get outdoors and enjoy nature to mark Health Parks Healthy People Celebration Day.
• protected over 170,000 hectares of land across the province through the Greenlands Conservation Partnership program. Provincial funds have been matched by over $90 million of investment from private and non-provincial government sources. The program has been successful in leveraging about $5 million of non-provincial investment in new protected areas for every dollar of provincial funds, exceeding the minimum match ratio of 1.5:1.
• provided nearly $4.5 million through the Species at Risk Stewardship Program to support local non-profit organizations, Indigenous communities and other stakeholder groups in protecting and recovering species at risk and their habitats. 
• successfully completed implementation of the first year of the Canada-Ontario Conservation Agreement on Boreal Caribou, a five-year agreement to advance the protection and recovery of caribou and invested more than $10 million in its implementation in 2023-24 (including contributions from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, the Ministry of Mines and the federal government).
• completed Caribou surveys to provide estimates of population size in key ranges in 2023-24.    
• invested $15 million over two years to support municipalities to improve the management of Lake Ontario wastewater and stormwater discharges.
• invested nearly $10 million over two years in wastewater monitoring and public reporting to improve transparency around monitoring and public reporting of sewage overflows and bypasses from municipal systems in the Great Lakes. 
• invested a total of $31 million over 5 years in wetland restoration and enhancement projects in the Great Lakes watersheds and supporting municipalities with stormwater management through the Wetlands Conservation Partner Program.
• continued to protect inland waters and vulnerable lakes, rivers and streams: 
  • invested approximately $1.25 million in 24 multi-year funding projects underway to improve our understanding of the complex stressors facing the Lake Simcoe watershed, and improve the ecological health of the lake, including approximately $595,000 in 12 new projects by the end of 2023-24. 
  • as part of the Muskoka Watershed Initiative, invested approximately $5 million to further protect the health of the Muskoka River Watershed, including support for 19 projects that will help safeguard the region from new pressures such as increased development and flooding.
  • continued partnerships with District Municipality of Muskoka and Federation of Cottagers’ Associations to support citizen science for inland lakes monitoring.

• invested in actions that will help protect and restore the Great Lakes: 
  • committed approximately $6.1M towards 23 new multi-year Great Lakes funding projects run by conservation authorities, Indigenous peoples and universities that are working to address commitments in the 2021 Canada-Ontario Agreement on Great Lakes Water Quality and Ecosystem Health (COA), Ontario’s Great Lakes Strategy and the Great Lakes Protection Act, 2015.
• continued federal-provincial collaboration in areas such as protecting and restoring the Great Lakes and Ontario's inland waterways: 
  • continued working with Canada to implement the binational Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement through the 2021 Canada-Ontario Agreement on Great Lakes Water Quality and Ecosystem. Ontario contributed expertise on numerous commitments including supporting Lake-wide Action and Management Plans helping to facilitate information sharing, set priorities and coordinate binational environmental protection and restoration work.
  • continued to work with 32 partners including provincial and federal ministries, agricultural organizations, First Nations and Metis communities, non-governmental organizations, conservation authorities and municipalities to implement actions under the Canada-Ontario Lake Erie Action Plan to reduce phosphorus loads to Lake Erie. This included actions to better manage wastewater and stormwater discharges; keep phosphorus on farmland and out of waterways through best management practices; restore and enhance natural heritage features, such as wetlands; improve monitoring and science; and enhance communication and outreach.
• continued actions to protect source water, including:
  • implemented source protection plans under the Clean Water Act, 2006 including integrating source protection into other provincial programs, such as spills response, permits and approvals, and working groups addressing the impact of road salt.
  • approved locally initiated amendments to source protection plans to keep them current and further protect sources of drinking water.
  • continued to support and provided more than $6 million in funding to source protection authorities to enable them to deliver on their responsibilities under the Clean Water Act, 2006 to protect local sources of drinking water from contamination and depletion and ensure source protection plans are implemented and maintained.
  • funded two First Nations and the Federation of Ontario’s Cottagers Association to use the ministry’s online Best Practices guide to conduct technical studies to map out vulnerable areas around local sources of drinking water, identify risks and develop an action plan to address those risks.

Drinking Water and Environmental Compliance Division

We have:

• released the 2022-23 Chief Drinking Water Inspector’s Annual Report confirmed that Ontario’s drinking water systems continue to provide high-quality drinking water. The 2022-23 data shows that 99.9 per cent of more than half a million drinking water tests from municipal residential drinking water systems met Ontario’s strict, health-based drinking water standards.
• In 2023-24:
  • conducted over 6,000 planned compliance activities.
  • responded to almost 7,500 spills, over 7,000 pollution incident reports and around 2,500 Adverse Water Quality Incidents.
  • continued to apply compliance and enforcement response and tools with voluntary abatement practices in over 2,600 instances, over 120 orders and almost 90 tickets issued.
  • investigations resulted in over 71 convictions with over $4.4 million in fines for environmental offences.
    • This includes the $2.1 million fine that was issued against the City of Hamilton on July 20, 2023 for the 24 billion litre discharge of raw sewage into Chedoke Creek between 2014 and 2018.  This is the largest fine that a court has imposed for a single offence under the Ontario Water Resources Act.
• issued environmental penalties to encourage companies to prevent spills from happening and to clean them up quickly if they occur. In 2023-24, Ontario issued 21 environmental penalty orders for 36 violations, which totaled over $5.6 million. In November 2023, the ministry expanded the existing environmental penalties framework to include open and closed landfilling sites with an approved capacity of 40,000 cubic metres or more.
• worked with the Walkerton Clean Water Centre and the Ontario Clean Water Agency to continue to provide First Nation communities across Ontario with access to provincial technical expertise and training upon request. Some key achievements included:
  • the Ontario Clean Water Agency moved forward with the formation of a First Nation Advisory Circle to help government better understand the needs and priorities of First Nations communities.
  • to date, the Walkerton Clean Water Centre has trained 253 First Nation operators with their Entry-Level Course for Drinking Water Operators for First Nations; as well as 193 Chiefs, band councilors and leaders on their responsibilities in managing those systems.
• continued to work with academic labs to analyze COVID-19 and other health threats at strategic community sampling locations and continue important research to advance Ontario as a leader in the science of wastewater surveillance.
• continued to implement a strategy to address industrial emissions (such as the Sarnia Air Action Plan and the Hamilton Air Action Plan) which includes enhanced oversight of industrial facilities, including:
  • enhanced inspections
  • reactive incident response
  • enhanced air monitoring
  • communication with local stakeholders.
• participated in meetings of the English and Wabigoon Rivers Remediation Panel with Indigenous communities to make funding decisions associated with remediating mercury contamination in the English and Wabigoon Rivers. The Panel has disbursed $33.5 million towards assessment of contamination from the $85 million trust that was established under the English and Wabigoon Rivers Remediation Funding Act, 2017. 
• continued to work towards the implementation of the engineering and design plan to remediate contaminated sediments in the St. Clair River.

Environmental Assessment and Permissions Division

We have:

• implemented a new regulation (the Comprehensive Environmental Assessment Projects Regulation) which identifies the projects that are subject to a comprehensive environmental assessment and those which are conditionally exempt, subject to following a streamlined process. The project list approach is a shift from the previous focus on who is undertaking the project to what the project is.
• allowed more projects to follow streamlined processes including highways, railways and transmission lines. There will continue to be oversight of projects that follow the streamlined process. This includes requirements to consult, including with Indigenous communities, study environmental impacts and take steps to mitigate negative impacts.
• finalized amendments to the Class Environmental Assessment for Government Property and the Class Environmental Assessment for Provincial Transportation Facilities and Municipal Expressways to better align assessment requirements with potential environmental impact. These changes reduced duplication and streamline the process for low-risk projects, while maintaining strong environmental oversight and protection.
• made changes to the Environmental Assessment Act that would provide the Minister with authority, on a project-specific basis, to make an order to waive or alter the 30-day waiting period following completion of a class environmental assessment process.
• replaced the Municipal Class Environmental Assessment with a regulation that sets out a streamlined, time-limited process for certain municipal projects.  If implemented, the proposal would reduce red tape and result in time and cost savings for municipalities servicing our growing communities.
• proposed amendments to the Environmental Assessment Act to provide more certainty to municipalities, provincial ministries and agencies that expropriation is one of the ways they are allowed to acquire property for a project before the environmental assessment process is complete.
• exempted projects related to provincial parks and conservation reserves and approved the Project Evaluation Policy.  This allows projects to move forward faster without compromising environmental protection.
• Extended the expiry date for Environmental Assessment Act approvals for eight infrastructure projects by 10 years.
• implemented the Municipal Consolidated Linear Infrastructure approach for municipal residential sewage collection and stormwater systems, which allows for expansion without additional ministry approvals.
• finalized a small scale breweries regulation to exempt the smallest breweries from requirements for a permission and reduced burden for those eligible for the permit-by-rule approach. 
• consulted on four permissions modernization proposals to move more activities to a permit by rule approach and seek input on expanding and improving the existing framework.
• consulted on the environmental assessment requirements for advanced recycling facilities under the Environmental Assessment Act to better support the use of innovative processes which reduces the need to use new natural resources and diverts waste from landfill.
• filed 472 Record of Site Conditions to the Brownfields Environmental Site Registry to support brownfields redevelopment.=

Environmental Sciences and Standards Division

We have:

• released the 2021 Air Quality Report
• completed the Sarnia Area Environmental Health Project to help address community concerns about air pollution and other environmental stressors in the Sarnia area, including meeting with partners and local stakeholders to share the reports from the project.
• finalized 65 risk assessments so that high risk contaminated sites could be cleaned up and put back to economic use, after thorough reviews to help ensure the sites will be redeveloped in a manner that is protective of human health and the environment.
• increased transparency of how Ontario manages water resources by releasing daily and annual amounts of water taken by permit to take water holders in Ontario from January 2019 to December 2020 on the Open Data Catalogue.
• worked with Michigan, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Canadian government on a collaborative study to improve our understanding of ozone formation (a key ingredient in smog) in southern Ontario and the transboundary flow of ozone from the United States into Ontario (and vice versa).
• continued to deliver our Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) with Environment and Climate Change Canada through a network of 38 ambient air quality monitoring stations across the province to measure and track common air pollutants and provide the public with real-time air pollutant data through Air Quality Ontario.
• continued to operate a roadside air monitoring network in Toronto in partnership with the University of Toronto and Environment and Climate Change Canada to better understand traffic-related air pollution in highly urbanized environments.
• continued to support conservation and environmental planning by collecting information on greenhouse gas emissions and carbon storage in the Hudson Bay Lowlands, a globally significant wetland and carbon store.
• worked with conservation authorities and Environment and Climate Change Canada to monitor water quality along the western Lake Ontario shoreline and evaluate changes in this growing urban area.
  • mapped water quality and nutrient levels along over 60 kilometres of Lake Ontario shoreline extending from the cities of Toronto, Mississauga and beyond, which can be used as a benchmark to evaluate future change over this growing urban area.

Environmental Policy Division

We made the following progress on the transition to the producer responsibility model: 

• successfully transitioned 128 local blue box programs to producer responsibility, starting July 1, 2023.
• amended the blue box regulation to provide clarity to producers that their blue box obligations are related to how much of their material supplied in Ontario is disposed in the blue box system.
• updated the Blue Box Transition Schedule to add 11 additional communities to the transition before 2026.
• terminated the old Municipal Hazardous or Special Waste (MHSW) Program under the Waste Diversion Transition Act, 2016 to recognize the implementation of full producer responsibility under the Hazardous and Special Products (HSP) regulation.
• repealed out-of-date regulations associated with soft drink containers to ensure producers are following a consistent approach to recycling soft drink containers and diverting these materials from landfills, as required under the current blue box regulation.

We have also:

• continued to work, through the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment, with other provinces, territories, and the federal government to implement a Canada-wide Action Plan on Zero Plastic Waste, including product design, single-use plastic waste, and research and monitoring.
• developed the strategy for Ontario’s annual Day of Action on Litter to encourage individuals, students, municipalities, and businesses across the province to work together to raise awareness about the impacts of litter and waste and take part in safe litter cleanups in their communities.
• issued over 8,330 individual and 25 facility-level certifications and administered over 4,744 operator exams through the ministry’s drinking water and wastewater operator certification program.
• reviewed the industrial technical standards for heavy benzene emitters which aim to reduce health and environmental risks and exposure to emissions in local communities by requiring registered facilities to implement best available technologies and practices to reduce benzene air emissions and improve air quality over time.
• posted proposals on the environmental registry of Ontario for six facilities to apply for the Asphalt Mix Industry Standard.
• continued to implement our excess soils framework to support the proper management of excess soils and ensure valuable resources don’t go to waste.
• proposed a new technical standard for heavy sulphur dioxide emitting facilities in the carbon black sector, and plan to finalize a compliance approach in 2024.

Corporate Management Division

We have:

• delivered business supports to the entire ministry, such as business and fiscal planning, financial management and controllership; agency governance including compliance and reporting; French language services; strategic human resources; facilities services; information management; emergency management; and corporate and capital projects.
• supported prescribed ministries in posting 2752 notices on the Environmental Registry of Ontario to enable Ontarians to participate in environmental decision making.
• continued to transform, standardize, and digitize the ministry’s records and information management systems.
• successfully delivered information technology projects to support modernization of the ministry’s compliance, permissions, monitoring, and analytics functions.
• entered a procurement process to transform the process of fulfilling property record requests through a digitized self-service solution.
• continued to enhance the ministry’s emergency management program through training, exercises, and development of plans to enhance our preparedness to respond to emergencies in collaboration with other ministries and all levels of government.
• improved in coordinating Freedom of Information (FOI) requests which enabled the ministry to significantly increase our compliance in responding to FOI requests within the legislative timelines.