The Canadian Wildlife…

The Canadian Wildlife Federation is calling on the Ontario Government to stop the Special Economic Zones Act, 2025, strengthen your commitment to science-based conservation and improve rather than hinder the state of biodiversity in the province. This is not just about wildlife – it is about protecting the ecosystems that support clean water, climate resilience, and quality of life for all Ontarians.

The proposed Act circumvents the democratic process and provides the province unprecedented ability to hand pick which regulations, permits, processes, approvals, and similar requirements will be exempted, altered or continue to apply. The proposal suggests Zones could be any geographic size or location and encompass multiple projects, leaving any area of Ontario open to potentially massive development and industrial projects and equally massive negative impacts.

Given the current government’s history of partnering with or enabling proponents with questionable environmental track records, giving yourself the power to decide which proponents meet environmental standards is highly concerning.

The suggestion of streamlining permits and simplified requirements raises the concern of transparency and that environmental (and other) checks and balances will be omitted from the process.
The attempt to self-grant unprecedented decision making power through Special Economic Zones goes against the democratic process and disrespects the decades of thoroughly constructed environmental legislation that is critical in safeguarding our natural heritage.

The world is in the midst of a global biodiversity crisis. Canada’s Nature Strategy outlines steps to make progress on the 23 targets outlined in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Through this proposal, Ontario is not only neglecting these targets, rather going entirely in the opposite direction.

On behalf of Ontario’s wildlife, we strongly oppose the Special Economic Zones Act, 2025.