“Environmental Defence is concerned by the Ontario government’s continued attempts to cast development in farms, forests, wetlands, and floodplains as a path to improving housing supply. … We can meet housing needs by building homes inside existing neighbourhoods.” – Phil Pothen, Council for the Canada-wide citizens organization Environmental Defence
A Statement By Phil Pothen, Counsel and Ontario Environment Program Manager for the citizens group Environmental Defence
Posted November 5th, 2025 on Niagara At Large
Toronto – The Ontario government’s announcement today of a proposed “Ontario Provincial Conservation Agency” is short on details. However, when released, the Bill must have a clear statutory obligation to prioritize public safety and environmental conservation over the convenience of sprawl developers.
While Environment Minister McCarthy paid lip service to protecting the public from “floods and natural hazards”, this morning’s announcement strongly suggested that the chief task of the Agency, and of its new head, Hassan Bassit, will be to standardize Conservation Authority policies and standards to “get shovels in the ground sooner” for wasteful, McMansion-style sprawl development.
Unless it is expressly prohibited, this would almost certainly mean lowering many current Conservation Authority approval standards, or reducing the level of scrutiny applied to permit applications. That would put Ontarians at risk.
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. Specialized teams, like the Toronto Region Conservation Authority’s Restoration and Infrastructure team, are essential to protecting the public and preserving nature in the face of their specific regions’ unique challenges.
Finally, Environmental Defence is concerned by the Ontario government’s continued attempts to cast development in farms, forests, wetlands, and floodplains as a path to improving housing supply.
We can meet housing needs by building homes inside existing neighbourhoods, as demonstrated in our Midrise Manual and many other expert reports. This is the only approach capable of catching up with the need for new homes. “Getting shovels in the ground” to build more sprawl in Ontario’s floodplains would mean fewer, more expensive homes overall.
ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.
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