Re: ERO #019-8462 – Proposed…

Re: ERO #019-8462 – Proposed Provincial Planning Statement

On behalf of Ontario Nature, I am writing to express our strong opposition to the significant reduction in wetland protection across the Greater Golden Horseshoe (GGH) that would result from the proposed Provincial Planning Statement. The proposed policy fails to carry forward Growth Plan policies that currently protect 86 percent (290,607 ha) of the region’s wetlands from the adverse impacts of development (MNRF, 2018, Table 8). This removal of protection is simply unacceptable given the exceptional ecological, climate, cultural and economic benefits provided by wetlands and their historic and ongoing loss in the GGH.

Ontario Nature is a charitable conservation organization that protects wild species and wild spaces through conservation, education and public engagement. Established in 1931, we now represent more than 30,000 individual members and supporters and more than 150 member groups across the province. Ontario Nature has been a leading advocate for wetland protection since 1937, when we began documenting wetland decline.

Wetland benefits
Wetlands provide myriad benefits to the people of Ontario, including flood control, carbon storage, water filtration, groundwater recharge and wildlife habitat. In one study commissioned by the Ontario Government (Troy & Bagstad, 2009) these benefits were valued at over $50 billion per year in southern Ontario alone. The 2019 report of Ontario’s Special Advisor on flooding likewise underlined the economic benefit of wetlands in reducing flood damages and associated costs. According to the report, maintaining wetlands can reduce flood damages and costs by up to 29 percent in rural areas and 38 percent in urban areas. Such benefits are critical at any time, but especially now faced as we are with the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss.

Unfortunately, southern Ontario has experienced losses of more than 72 percent of our original wetlands (Ducks Unlimited Canada, 2010). These losses exceed 85 percent in Niagara and in the Greater Toronto Area (Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, 2017. The need to protect the wetlands that remain is urgent, yet the losses continue (Ontario Biodiversity Council).

Ontario’s Wetland protections undermined
We acknowledge that the wetland policies of the Provincial Policy Statement (PPS) have been carried forward into the proposed Provincial Planning Statement. Specifically, Provincially Significant Wetlands (PSWs) and Provincially Significant Coastal Wetlands would continue to benefit from policies that prohibit development and site alteration within these features. The policy would also prohibit development and site alteration on adjacent lands unless “it has been demonstrated that there will be no negative impacts on the natural features or on their ecological functions.” (Section 4.1, proposed Provincial Planning Statement)

It is important to understand, however, that only about half of the wetlands in southern Ontario have been evaluated for their significance. The policy fails to protect the rest or to require that wetlands be evaluated prior to development approvals. Further, despite the strength of the PPS policies, they have been significantly undermined by the recent overhaul of the Ontario Wetland Evaluation System (OWES). Under the new OWES it is now much more difficult for wetlands to qualify as provincially significant and many that had qualified are now losing that designation. In fact, Ontario Nature recently conducted a GIS analysis of changes to wetlands designated as PSWs in southern Ontario from March, 2023 (when the new OWES came into effect) to March, 2024. Our analysis revealed PSW losses in 17 municipalities. According to the Auditor General of Ontario, Conservation Authorities and municipalities have projected “that the majority—in some areas, up to 98%—of the protected wetlands in southern Ontario would be at risk of losing protection from development as a result of these changes.” (Operation of the Environmental Bill of Rights 1993, December, 2023, p. 15)

Important Growth Plan policies not carried forward
The policies of the Growth Plan provide an important backstop for wetland protection, regardless of the changes to the OWES. Yet none of these policies is carried forward into the proposed Provincial Planning Statement.

In the Growth Plan, all wetlands are included in the definition of Key Hydrologic Features and Key Natural Heritage Features and are to be protected accordingly:

Key Hydrologic Features
Permanent streams, intermittent streams, inland lakes and their littoral zones, seepage areas and springs, and wetlands.

Key Natural Heritage Features
Habitat of endangered species and threatened species; fish habitat; wetlands; life science areas of natural and scientific interest (ANSIs), significant valleylands, significant woodlands; significant wildlife habitat (including habitat of special concern species); sand barrens, savannahs, and tallgrass prairies; and alvars. (Growth Plan, Section 7 Definitions)

The Growth Plan sets out policies strictly protecting Key Hydrologic Features and Key Natural Heritage Features from development and site alteration within the regional Natural Heritage System (3.2.1, 1.; 4.2.2, 3.; 4.2.3). On adjacent lands within 120 metres of such features, the Growth Plan further requires the development of a vegetation protection zone that is “of sufficient width to protect the key natural heritage feature or key hydrologic feature and its functions from the impacts of the proposed change” (4.2.4). As explained in Ontario’s Wetland Conservation Strategy, the Growth Plan policies protect all wetlands from development in the GGH outside settlement areas (Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, 2017, p. 12).

Because these Growth Plan policies are not carried forward into the proposed Provincial Planning Statement, protection for more than half of the wetlands in the region will be significantly eroded. As indicated in The Regional Natural Heritage System for the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe – summary of criteria and methods (MNRF, 2018, Table 8), there are 336,418 ha of wetlands in the Growth Plan area (excluding settlement areas). Of these, 86 percent (290,607 ha) fall within the Natural Heritage System. Less than half of these wetlands (130,402 ha) are PSWs. The remainder - more than half (i.e., 160,205 ha) - of the wetlands in the Natural Heritage System would be left unprotected under the new Provincial Planning Statement. Further, as noted above, even those that are currently deemed to be PSWs are at risk of losing that designation and the protection it affords due to changes to the OWES.

Recommendation
We urge you to incorporate into the proposed Provincial Planning Statement the broader protections for wetlands across the GGH, as set out in the Growth Plan.

Thank you for your attention. I trust that these comments will be carefully considered.