The Ontario Federation of…

The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters Foundation (OFAH Foundation) is dedicated to preserving Ontario's natural heritage through conservation research, habitat restoration, and educational initiatives that promote sustainable outdoor activities. As a leader in conservation, we work collaboratively with partners, experts, and communities throughout Ontario to protect and enhance fish and wildlife populations for today and future generations. We have reviewed ERO 025-0909: “Proposed legislative and regulatory amendments to enable the Species Conservation Act, 2025” and offer the following comments for consideration.

The regulatory framework proposed under the Species Conservation Act (SCA) is largely inadequate and provides only a fraction of the protections afforded to vulnerable species under the previous Endangered Species Act (ESA). While there are inefficiencies in the current ESA, such as the listing of certain forms or ecotypes of species such like small and large-bodied forms of Lake Opeongo Lake Whitefish, this proposal functions to remove broad protections from all designated species.

Designated Species
The removal of the Special Concern designation will prevent vulnerable species from receiving timely and cost-effective management support needed to reverse population declines.

While the province is correct in stating that Special Concern species were not directly protected under the ESA, this status nevertheless required management planning: identifying threats, setting monitoring and recovery guidelines, and directing land-use and stewardship policies used by municipalities, agencies, and other partners. Listing also ensured that species were tracked by COSSARO and could be more readily reassessed and uplisted when necessary. The removal of this category, though seemingly innocuous, therefore carries implications for the functionality of COSSARO in Ontario’s conservation landscape.

The proposal also effectively cedes responsibility for federally listed aquatic and migratory species to the federal government, under the rationale that the Species at Risk Act (SARA) and Fisheries Act already apply. However, removing these species from provincial designation will eliminate provincial land-use checkpoints and local enforcement tools, including mitigation orders, permitting timelines, conservation charges, and vital habitat mapping. This will result in slower or fewer on-the-ground responses to harm until federal authorities intervene, and removes tools that provincial officers, municipalities, and agencies currently use to address localized issues.

Crucially, SARA does not apply to migratory bird habitat outside of federal lands, meaning that habitat destruction for those species would be entirely unregulated under the current proposal. Given these implications, the federal government may conclude that the province is not fulfilling it’s obligation to sufficiently protect vulnerable species and apply SARA more broadly, resulting in a significant loss in provincial control.

If the province’s intent in removing Special Concern, SARA, and Fisheries Act species designations is purely to eliminate redundancy (and not to reduce protection), then maintaining provincial designations remains necessary to avoid serious regulatory and enforcement gaps.

Common and Specific Requirements
OFAH Foundation has previously expressed serious concern about the conservation implications of a “rules-and-registration” approach to species protection, and this proposal confirms the appropriateness of those concerns. While such generic regulations-based systems are typically used for low-risk activities, the current proposal would apply this approach to all but the most extreme activities (e.g., killing or introducing a protected species). Registration would replace permitting for the vast majority of cases. More concerning still, the “common requirements” for registered activities appear to offer no tangible conservation value, consisting primarily of recordkeeping rather than avoidance, mitigation, or restoration.

Species such as the Northern Bobwhite - a former game bird now critically endangered in Ontario - warrant automatic protection, with limited exemptions for unique circumstances. This is consistent with conservation practice across North America. The proposed framework would invert that standard; virtually all activities would be automatically permitted, requiring only documentation, unless they involve directly killing or introducing a listed species.

While we acknowledge that species or situation-specific requirements may be developed later, we strongly believe that some level of protection must apply automatically to all designated species. Otherwise, it would be inaccurate to describe those species as “protected” under the Act.

Public Consultation and Accountability
The proposal to exempt all permits and orders from Part II of the Environmental Bill of Rights (EBR) has serious implications for transparency and government accountability. Under the proposed SCA, permits and orders would still govern activities of high consequence, including the killing or introduction of protected species, which have historically required public consultation. Exempting such activities from EBR posting is unprecedented and inconsistent with past practice, where exemptions were limited to low-risk, routine, or time-sensitive matters.

Allowing destructive activities involving imperilled species to proceed without public notice or input will significantly undermine public confidence in the government’s commitment to conservation and transparency. We strongly recommend retaining Part II EBR requirements for all SCA-related permits and orders.

Conclusion
As we emphasized in earlier submissions on the SCA, the Endangered Species Act has served as a minimum standard for conservation in Ontario. Its purpose was simple but essential - to prevent the extirpation and extinction of our most vulnerable species. There is no rational basis for reducing those protections.

Ontario’s legacy as a province of rich natural heritage will never be measured in dollars earned or houses built. It will, at least in part, be judged by the health of its wetlands, the persistence of its coldwater streams, and the recovery of its declining species. It is the expectation of OFAH Foundation and our supporters that Ontario pursue a positive conservation legacy, not a diminished one, and we would welcome the opportunity to work with MECP to address the oversights and shortcomings identified in this proposal and the broader Bill 5 framework.