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TORONTO — Ontario is proposing to consolidate its 36 conservation authorities into seven, a move the environment minister insists will improve services and result in no job losses.
Environment Minister Todd McCarthy announced Friday that the government will soon introduce legislation to establish a new provincial agency to oversee the amalgamated conservation authorities and consult on the proposed boundaries of the new regional authorities.
“Ontario’s conservation authorities are essential to watershed management and public safety across our province,” he said.
“Our government is committed to ensuring they remain strong, effective and ready to meet today’s challenges. But right now, Ontario has 36 conservation authorities operating largely on their own, with fragmented and outdated data systems and a patchwork of standards and service delivery.”
More than 100 municipalities are currently within two or more conservation authorities’ boundaries and are therefore subject to different rules and processes, McCarthy said.
The proposed areas for the seven new regional conservation authorities will be better aligned with natural watersheds and will help reduce duplication, he said.
The consolidation will result in no job losses, McCarthy said.
“It’s not a reduction, it’s a consolidation and an amalgamation, which means that all of the communities currently served by conservation authorities will continue to be served by conservation authorities,” he said.
Some management positions, though, will be “redeployed” to front-line roles, including the 36 conservation authority CEOs, McCarthy said.
“There’d be an opportunity to redeploy them into front-line services – that’s what I mean when I say no job losses are anticipated,” he said.
“That transformational opportunity will be there. We want the best and the brightest in the front line, where it’s going to make a difference. … We live in a world where people don’t retire at 65, they just get into a new line of work. Look at me. I was a lawyer for 33 years, and now I’m a politician.”
The government is set to soon introduce legislation to establish the Ontario Provincial Conservation Agency, which it says will provide centralized leadership and strategic direction. It will be expected to develop a single platform for permits, set provincewide standards and oversee the consolidation.
NDP environment critic Peter Tabuns said centralizing environmental decision-making is the wrong move.
“(The premier) is hollowing out the very agencies that defend our land, water and wildlife, all so his developer friends can build wherever they please,” he wrote in a statement.
The changes to conservation authorities are expected to be implemented after consultation next spring, the government said, and existing board members will continue to serve until after the province changes governance structures after next October’s municipal elections.
Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said the changes to conservation authorities will leave Ontarians exposed to dangerous flooding.
“Slashing conservation authorities and replacing them with a provincial oversight agency will gut protections for our parks, lakes and rivers,” he wrote in a statement.
“It will result in more job losses. And it will continue this government’s pattern of centralizing power into fewer and fewer hands —undermining local expertise and decision-making.”
A housing law from the Progressive Conservative government a few years ago reduced the role of conservation authorities, including limiting the areas they can consider in development permissions, removing factors such as pollution and conservation of the land.
Advocacy group Environmental Defence said the legislation enabling the new central agency must have clear language prioritizing public safety and environmental conservation over the convenience of developers.
“Minister McCarthy and the OPCA must not use concerns about ‘inconsistency’ as a pretext for reducing conservation authorities’ programs and service levels to the lowest common denominator,” Ontario environment program manager Phil Pothen wrote in a statement.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31, 2025.
Allison Jones, The Canadian Press
