This consultation was open from:
October 20, 2025
to December 4, 2025
Decision summary
We are moving forward with regulatory amendments under the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act to:
- streamline the source protection plan amendment process
- enable the use of new municipal drinking water source faster
- improve and streamline how policies affecting prescribed instruments can be used to manage risks to drinking water
Decision details
The Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) has amended Ontario Regulation 287/07 (General) under the Clean Water Act, 2006 (CWA), Ontario Regulation 205/18 (Municipal Residential Drinking Water Systems in Source Protection Areas) under the Safe Drinking Water Act, 2002, and developed a new regulation Ontario Regulation 210/26 (Prescribed Instruments) under the CWA to accelerate and modernize how sources of municipal drinking water are protected.
Overall, the proposed regulatory amendments will reduce administrative burden, support housing and infrastructure development. They will also maintain strong environmental and public health safeguards.
These amendments streamline and modernize the source protection framework by:
- simplifying and accelerating source protection plan amendments
- expanding opportunities for local approval of routine and minor plan amendments
- enabling faster use of new and expanded municipal drinking water sources where risks are understood and managed
- standardizing source protection plan policies affecting prescribed instrument decisions, with clearer requirements for consistency, transparency and reporting on implementation
Ontario is committed to ensuring that existing and future sources of drinking water are protected from contamination and depletion through the CWA and its regulations.
Amendment to the General Regulation (O. Reg. 287/07) under the Clean Water Act
Ontario’s current process to amend source protection plans is lengthy and duplicative, causing unnecessary delays in utilizing new sources of municipal drinking water.
Changes to O. Reg. 287/07 (General) would accelerate protection of drinking water sources by streamlining the source protection plan amendment process. These amendments will come into effect on July 1, 2026, along with related statutory amendments in the CWA.
The amendments include the following:
Expanding the types of minor source protection plan amendments that can proceed without approval or consultation. This includes plan amendments that make changes to the:
- narrative text of a plan without changing the policies or the assessment report
- policy implementation timelines in the source protection plan where the Minister or his or her delegate has provided an extension to a deadline in a source protection plan policy
- plan to address a new, or change in, a well or intake located in a neighbouring source protection area whose plan amendments have already been approved if:
- the technical work for the plan amendments for the source protection area where the well or intake is located included a new or altered delineation and identification of drinking water threats for the entire wellhead protection area or intake protection zone, including the parts that extend into the source protection area where the well or intake is not located, and
- no new significant drinking water threat activities were identified in the wellhead protection area or intake protection zone in the source protection area where the well or intake is not located
- delineation of the wellhead protection areas and intake protections zones in assessment reports to address replacement wells or intakes, if:
- there is only a change to the area immediately surrounding a wellhead or intake (specifically, a wellhead protection area A or an intake protection zone 1)
- the previous delineation of the wellhead protection area or intake protection zone had already incorporated the most recent technical rules, and
- the revised delineation does not capture activities that are considered new significant drinking water threats
If the last type of amendment is made (change to only the WHPA-A or IPZ-1 to reflect a replacement well or intake), the source protection authority must provide the ministry with a rationale explaining why only those specific areas need to be re-delineated.
When the latter 2 types of amendments are made, source protection authorities will need to give municipalities a notice describing the amendment, submit data supporting the delineation of vulnerable areas to the ministry and update the explanatory document to reflect the amendment.
This will achieve greater efficiencies in the source protection amendment process for minor plan amendments, reducing the amendment process by approximately 12.5 months.
- Specifying the types of plan amendments where source protection authorities (that is, generally conservation authorities) approve certain amendments, rather than the Minister:
- where there is new or revised mapping of a wellhead protection area or intake protection zone and existing plan policies (no new types of policies) will apply to those areas
- where a significant threat policy that prohibits a significant threat activity or land use is being revised to be a policy that manages or regulates the activity
Specifying the process for how a source protection authority approves the plan amendments described above, including:
- that the source protection authority must first obtain the director’s approval of the assessment report before deciding on whether to approve the amendment
- after the source protection authority approves the plan amendment, notice of approval must be given to the municipalities and every person or body responsible for implementing a policy that is affected by the amendment
- notice of approval must be given to the ministry along with data supporting the delineation of vulnerable areas, copies of any municipal resolutions, a summary of the approved amendment, a summary of any written comments received, an explanation of the effect, if any, that those comments have on the finalized proposed amendment, and when removing a significant threat policy that prohibits an activity, an updated explanatory document
Together, these two changes specifying the types of source protection plan amendments where source protection authorities decides whether to approve the amendment and specifying this amendment process will streamline the source protection amendment process for routine amendments by approximately 6 months.
Changes have been made to the source protection plan amendment consultation process and requirements in order to:
- simplify and speed up consultation requirements by combining the 2 phases of public consultation into 1, while maintaining meaningful opportunities for public and Indigenous community input
- modernize consultation requirements, including by removing the requirements to publish newspaper notices and to make source protection plan documents available for inspection at locations that are sufficiently accessible, and instead maintaining the requirement to publish documents on the internet and requiring publication of notices in a manner that will bring the notice to the attention of the public
These changes are anticipated to enable flexibility on how best to conduct consultation in a modern world, while reducing the source protection amendment process by approximately 2.5 months.
- Specify documents and information that comprise a “complete submission” of a proposed source protection plan amendment that requires Minister’s approval. The Act provides that upon a “complete submission” (as confirmed by the Director) of the proposed amendment to the Minister, the Minister has 120 days to exercise an option to approve the amendment or require revisions or additional consultation and re-submission, otherwise the amendment is deemed to be approved. A “complete submission” includes providing a summary of the proposed amendment, a document that identifies the revisions to the source protection plan, any technical reports or studies that were prepared to support the revisions, copies of written comments received, and municipal resolutions and data supporting the delineation of vulnerable areas.
At this time, the ministry is not proceeding with:
- setting out additional circumstances where Part IV risk management plan policies and prohibition policies (under s. 57 and 58 of the CWA) cannot be used in a source protection plan to deal with significant drinking water threat activities, if the activities are already subject to the requirement for a prescribed instrument
- where a person is engaging in a significant threat activity that is governed by a prescribed instrument that is not issued by a provincial body, but instead created by a person engaged in the activity (for example, a Nutrient Management Plan), enabling the risk management official to review the instrument to determine if the conditions in the instrument meet the same criteria for establishing a risk management plan under section 58 of the CWA and if not, allow the official to require a risk management plan for the activity
These proposals will be evaluated following the implementation of changes to the CWA to support future decisions.
Amendments to O. Reg. 205/18 (Municipal Residential Drinking Water Systems in Source Protection Areas) and O. Reg. 287/07
Currently, under O. Reg. 205/18 under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), in combination with provisions of O. Reg. 287/07 under the CWA, when the owner of a municipal drinking water system (such as a municipality) requires an amendment to the drinking water works permit to install a new or alter a well or intake that would require mapping changes to the wellhead protection areas or intake protection zones in the source protection plan, the application for the permit amendment must include a notice from the relevant source protection authority confirming that the technical work (including delineation of vulnerable areas and identification of drinking water threats) to support a source protection plan amendment to protect the well or intake has been completed. In addition, in the notice, the source protection authority must identify amendments to be made to the source protection plan that it considers advisable.
If the SDWA director issues the amendment to the drinking water works permit to allow the new or altered well or intake, O. Reg. 205/18 requires the director to include a condition in the permit that prohibits supplying drinking water to users from the new or altered well or intake until the identified source protection plan amendments have been approved.
Changes to O. Reg. 205/18 and O. Reg. 287/07 will enable the use of new municipal drinking water sources (such as wells and intakes) faster. These amendments will come into effect on July 1, 2026.
Amendments include:
- Clarifying when a condition must be included in a SDWA permit or licence that prohibits the supply of water or the use of increased capacity until a source protection plan can be amended (subject to the new exceptions described in number 2 below):
- where there is an increase in the rated capacity of the system (how much water can be treated by the system) that requires a change to the mapping of a wellhead protection area or intake protection zone
- where an amendment to the municipal drinking water licence (not only the drinking water works permit) is being granted for a new or altered well or intake or increase in rated capacity requiring changes to the mapping of wellhead protection areas or intake protection zones
- where the mapping of vulnerable areas to reflect a new or changing drinking water system spans more than 1 source protection area, the prohibition would need to be included until all advisable amendments to all affected source protection plans have been made
- No longer requiring the SDWA Director to include a condition prohibiting the supply of water, or use of increased rated capacity, in a permit or licence before an amendment to a source protection plan is made if:
- the source protection authority is of the opinion (and has indicated in the notice regarding completed technical work and advisable source protection plan amendments) that a prohibition condition is not necessary, with an explanation of the opinion, having regard to the nature of the technical work, the nature of the amendments, the existing policies in the plan if any that apply to drinking water threats and an identification if a source protection plan for an adjacent source protection area needs to be updated, if applicable
- the application for the permit or licence amendment involves the replacement of an existing well or intake, the only changes are to the mapping of vulnerable areas closest to the well or intake, and no new significant threats are identified in those areas
A decision was made to not proceed with requiring the source protection authority to set out in the notice the timeline in which the plan amendment could be approved, up to a maximum of 3 years.
These changes will give greater flexibility so that the prohibition on supplying water or using increased rated capacity does not need to be included in every amended permit or licence where the mapping of vulnerable areas needs to change, depending on the advice the SDWA director receives from the source protection authority.
New Minister’s regulation (O. Reg. 210/26) under the Clean Water Act
Legislative amendments to the CWA changed how policies affecting prescribed instruments could be used to manage risks to drinking water. Amendments to the CWA specified that only the following 2 types of policies affecting decisions on prescribed instruments could be included in source protection plans:
- Subject to exceptions in regulations, policies to prohibit activities that are not being engaged in at the time a new plan or amendment to the plan takes effect (sometimes referred to as “future” activities)
- policies requiring the prescribed instrument issuer/creator to ensure their decision is designed to achieve the objectives of ensuring that the activity never becomes or ceases to be a significant drinking water threat (that is, to “manage” the threat)
Further, these and other changes to the CWA also meant that a prescribed instrument policy could no longer:
- prohibit an activity that was being engaged in before a source protection plan or plan amendment takes effect (“existing activities”), unless a regulation was developed to exempt this
- require decisions on prescribed instruments to conform with designated Great Lakes policies (there are no designated Great Lake policies in a source protection plan because no Great Lakes target has been set under the CWA)
- affect decisions on prescribed instruments that address moderate and low threats
The new Minister’s regulation under the CWA will improve and streamline how policies affecting “prescribed instruments” (such as permits and licences issued by MECP and other ministries) can be used to manage risks to drinking water, including increasing transparency regarding how significant threats are managed. These amendments will come into effect on January 1, 2027. The regulation will address the following:
- Establish standardized wording for policies that affect prescribed instruments. The standardized wording for prescribed instrument policies that “manage” (and do not prohibit) significant threat activities would ensure that the issuer/creator of the prescribed instrument achieves the objective that the activity ceases to be or never becomes a significant drinking water threat (that is, the threat is managed) rather than allowing source protection authorities to prescribe specific terms and conditions to be included in instruments.
- Establish in regulation that policies that prohibit existing activities governed by prescribed instruments issued or created under the Nutrient Management Act, 2002 (NMA) may continue to be proposed/included in plans.
- Allow established policies in source protection plans that prohibit existing activities governed by prescribed instruments to remain in the plan until the policy has been implemented.
- Increase transparency and consistency by requiring documentation of how a decision made by a prescribed instrument issuer/creator complies with the applicable prescribed instrument significant threat policies in the plan. Requirements would also be included to ensure prescribed instrument decision-makers report some information annually to the source protection authority to assist in their preparation of an annual progress report. The purpose of this change is to streamline and make consistent these reporting obligations. This would remove the need for such policies in a source protection plan, as these obligations would be set out in regulation.
- Require that source protection authorities review, remove, and replace the relevant policies in their plans to comply with the new requirements in the CWA and regulation by January 31, 2027, as well as providing notice to the MECP director when this has been completed.
- Establish a timeline of 3 years for reviews by prescribed instrument decision-makers of existing prescribed instruments affected by a source protection plan amendment (for example, where a new vulnerable area is delineated). This ensures that the instrument creators and issuers undertake a timely and consistent review of existing instruments to determine whether the instrument needs to be amended to comply with the applicable prescribed instrument policies in the plan and to make those amendments as necessary.
These changes shift the responsibility of determining how prescribed instruments address threats to sources of drinking water to the person or body making the decision on the instrument (such as provincial ministries) while also putting guardrails in place to ensure accountability, consistency and increase transparency in how prescribed instrument policies are implemented across the province.
Effects of consultation
The proposed changes to the regulations under the CWA and SDWA were posted on the Environmental Registry of Ontario (ERO) for 45 days, from October 20, 2025, to December 4, 2025. Notification letters about the proposal were sent to source protection stakeholders, municipalities, municipal stakeholders, environmental non-government organizations, industry sectors, and Indigenous communities and organizations. To provide a greater opportunity for engagement, three information sessions with stakeholders were hosted in October and November 2025. One engagement session occurred with Indigenous communities. Two additional discussion sessions were held for key stakeholders that implement the source protection program in November and December.
Overall support was received for the proposal identifying process improvements. Comments that were mixed, unsupportive or concerned identified that they were concerned with the potential of lessened environmental protection, reduce approval and oversight from the ministry and expansion of government powers.
Regarding the proposal to streamline the source protection plan amendment process in O. Reg. 287/07 the following comments were received.
- The vast majority of comments were supportive of streamlining the source protection amendment process
- Those who had concerns identified concerns around removing a phase of consultation and the ministry no longer be the approval authority on amendments
- Recommendations included development of clear guidance on criteria for source protection authorities approval and approval processes, making voluntary early engagement steps mandatory, and expanding circumstances even further for the existing streamlined amendment process that can proceed without consultation or approval
- Comments were mixed on the proposal that discussed setting out circumstances where Part IV risk management plan policies and prohibition cannot be used by a source protection plan and to enable the risk management official to review the prescribed instrument where a prescribed instrument is not issued by a provincial body, to determine if a risk management plan is required
Response:
The changes remove pre-consultation, which occurs with those identified as implementors of source protection plan policies that are affected by the proposed amendment. These identified individuals and bodies will continue to be consulted with, though a process like the existing one, however, this will occur at the same time that others (e.g., the public) are consulted with.
The circumstances where the source protection authority is identified as the approval authority are generally limited to where policies have already been reviewed and approved by the ministry (e.g., can only apply existing policies in the plan to new areas, or are removing a prohibition). In addition, the Director will continue to review and approve the assessment report portion of the source protection plan, ensuring the science is in alignment with the technical framework under the CWA.
In response to comments received through consultation, a new type of plan amendment was added to be eligible for the existing streamlined amendment process that does not require consultation or approval (addressing a new or change in a well or intake located in a neighbouring source protection area whose plan amendments have already been approved), and a new requirement to notify municipalities when certain source protection plans amendments are made using the streamlined process was also added. The ministry will work with source protection partners to adapt to the new process and developing supporting materials as appropriate.
Mixed support of comments received on the proposals related to Part IV policies (i.e., additional circumstances where Part IV policies cannot be used, and allowing risk management officials to require a risk management plan for an activity that is already governed by certain types of prescribed instruments that contain a statement that the instrument conforms to significant threat policies). The ministry decided not to proceed with these policy proposals at this time.
Regarding the proposal to amend O. Reg. 205/18 and O. Reg. 287/07 to enable the use of new municipal drinking water sources (such as wells and intakes) faster, the following comments were received.
- Many source protection and technical stakeholders supported delayed source protection plan amendment as a practical tool to enable timely water supply development when risks are already managed
- However, some municipalities and ENGOs raised concerns about reduced oversight, that public consultation should occur when not including the prohibition condition in the permit or licence, perceived lack of protections in place when providing drinking water, and potential gaps in protection if timelines to complete the source protection plan amendment stretch too long
- Consultation identified the need for clear guidance for when a prohibition condition in a municipal drinking water licence or drinking water works permit is not needed to ensure consistent and appropriate implementation (i.e., used in low-risk, well-understood scenarios)
Response: The amendments address potential gaps by providing that in a few additional circumstances, a prohibition condition needs to be included in the SDWA licence or permit until a source protection plan (and its policies) is in place or amended to reflect a new or change in a drinking water system. The amendments also recognize that requiring the SDWA Director to apply a prohibition on supplying water until the source protection plan is amended in every case, where a drinking water system is changing and would require a change in the mapping of wellhead protection areas or intake protection zones, without exception, has proven to be unnecessary and can slow development for growing communities. However, to ensure that sources of drinking water are still adequately protected before they begin to be used, the requirement to include a prohibition condition in a municipal drinking licence or drinking water works permit would only not apply in limited circumstances where consideration has been given to various factors including any existing policies in the plan that apply to any identified significant threats. Concerns raised will be mitigated through the development of guidance on forming an opinion on whether a prohibition condition is necessary. Furthermore, should an amendment not be completed within an appropriate amount of time, the Minister has the ability under the CWA to order a source protection plan amendment in accordance with directions set out in the order.
Regarding the proposal for the development of the O. Reg. 210/26 to improve and streamline how policies affecting prescribed instruments, the following comments were received:
- Some municipalities and stakeholders supported standardization of policies directed at prescribed instruments acknowledging the need for regulatory certainty and consistency in management and reporting approaches
- Other municipalities and source protection stakeholders raised concerns with introducing policy gaps resulting from standardization or recommended that standardized wording for policies directed at prescribed instruments maintain some flexibility to add non-binding terms and conditions reflecting the intent and context of the polices
- Some municipalities and source protection stakeholders asked for further consultation to be conducted on the specific wording of the standardized policies, while others were concerned with implementation and the administration of updating the policies to the standardized wording
- Some commenters expressed support for required documentation and standardized annual reporting
- Feedback was mixed on restricting the use of policies directed at existing activities governed by prescribed instruments, specifically prescribed instruments issued or created under the NMA
Response: In response to comments received through consultation the ministry has maintained flexibility on standardized policy language addressing prescribed instruments to indicate where and under what circumstances policies should apply, while enabling issuers/creators of prescribed instruments to determine how to mitigate threats. There is no standardized language for policies addressing prescribed instruments that prohibit activities, since prohibition does not vary in how it is applied. In response to comments on restricting the use of policies directed at existing activities governed by prescribed instruments, the ministry has provided an exemption, that would allow plans to continue including policies that prohibit existing significant threat activities governed under an NMA instrument. MECP will continue to work with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness to analyze the feedback received on instruments under the NMA. The analysis will support a future decision on the use of policies directed at existing activities governed by NMA prescribed instruments in source protection plans.
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Public Input Coordinator - Source Protection
300 Water Street North tower, 5th floor
Peterborough,
ON
K9J 3C7
Canada
Original proposal
Proposal details
Ontario is committed to ensuring that existing and future sources of drinking water are protected from contamination and depletion through the Clean Water Act, 2006 (CWA) and its regulations.
The ministry is proposing minor amendments to the Clean Water Act, 2006 to streamline the way sources of drinking water are protected. Details on proposed legislative changes can be found under ERO posting 025-1060 which also contains a brief summary of the source protection planning framework, including source protection plans and how they protect sources of drinking water.
In addition to these proposed legislative changes, the ministry is proposing the following regulatory changes:
- amendments to the General Regulation (O. Reg. 287/07) under the Clean Water Act, 2006
- development of a new Minister’s regulation under the Clean Water Act, 2006
- amendments to Municipal Residential Drinking Water Systems in Source Protection Areas (O. Reg. 205/18) under the Safe Drinking Water Act, 2002
The process to amend a source protection plan is lengthy and contains duplicative processes, causing unnecessary delays and hindering rapid protection. We are proposing to adjust the steps required to complete an amendment, while recognizing the maturity of the program and the comprehensive protection already in place for Ontario’s 38 source protection areas.
Under O. Reg. 205/18 under the Safe Drinking Water Act, 2002 (SDWA), in combination with provisions of O. Reg. 287/07, when a new well or intake is needed to supply water, and the owner of a municipal drinking water system requires an amendment to the system’s drinking water works permit to install the well or intake, the application for an amendment must include information showing that the technical work (that will involve changes to the assessment report) to support a source protection plan amendment has been completed. This regulation was put in place to ensure that source protection plans are kept up to date and continue to protect new and altered municipal sources of drinking water. The regulation does this by requiring the SDWA Director to include a condition in the municipal drinking water permit that prohibits supplying drinking water to users from the new or altered well or intake until the source protection plan amendment has been approved. However, applying this strict prohibition in every case without exception has proven to be unnecessary, and can slow down development for growing communities. The purpose of the proposed change to these regulations is to give greater flexibility so that the prohibition is not automatic but will be applied based on advice the SDWA Director receives from the source protection authority.
Changes are also proposed to prescribed instruments which are generally approvals issued by the province and can govern significant drinking water threat activities. O. Reg..287/07 sets out the list of “prescribed instruments”. In some cases, a prescribed instrument is created by the person engaged in the activity, such as certain instruments under the Nutrient Management Act – for example, a nutrient management plan. Additionally, significant threat policies, as described in ERO posting 025-1060, may require the prescribed instrument decision-maker to prohibit an activity from being engaged in at that location or require that activity be managed through provisions of the instrument so that it ceases to be or never becomes a significant drinking water threat (i.e., to “manage” the threat).
The proposed amendments to the regulations referred to above would support more timely approvals by easing unnecessary burden on municipalities seeking to provide water service to new development in a timely manner, while continuing to ensure appropriate safeguards remain in place to protect drinking water sources.
The government is committed to maintaining a high standard of protection for drinking water sources, while:
- allowing local source protection authorities to approve certain routine updates to source protection plans
- allowing additional minor plan amendments (such as modifications that are administrative in nature) to proceed without approval or consultation
- set clear timelines for approvals by the Minister of source protection plan amendments
- simplify consultation requirements on plan amendments while ensuring the right people are engaged
- enabling the use of new drinking water sources (such as wells and intakes) faster where protections are already in place
- changing how policies affecting “prescribed instruments” (such as approvals, permits and licences) can be used to manage risks to drinking water
Proposed amendments
To support the legislative proposal in the Building a More Competitive Economy Act, 2025 (ERO notice #025-1060) the Ministry is proposing to make amendments to the supporting regulations of the Clean Water Act, 2006.
The proposed changes are outlined below under the following three categories:
- proposed amendments to the General Regulation (O. Reg. 287/07) under the Clean Water Act, 2006
- development of a new Minister’s regulation under the Clean Water Act, 2006
- proposed amendments to Municipal Residential Drinking Water Systems in Source Protection Areas (O. Reg. 205/18) under the Safe Drinking Water Act, 2002
Details of proposed amendments
1. Proposed amendments to the General Regulation (O. Reg. 287/07) under the Clean Water Act
Proposed changes to General Regulation (O. Reg. 287/07) would support streamlining the source protection amendment process. The proposed changes to O. Reg. 287/07 include:
- specifying circumstances where the source protection authorities would be the approval authority for a source protection plan amendment such as when the plan amendments would:
- delineate a new or modified protection area around a well or intake and apply the existing source protection plan policies in that area
- remove a prohibition policy (for example when allowing an activity will result in better environmental outcomes than prohibiting it)
- specifying the process for how a source protection authority approves a plan amendment such as:
- before the source protection authority can approve the plan, approval of the assessment report by an Minister of the Environment Conservation and Parks (MECP) Director would be required to ensure the assessment report is completed in alignment with the technical rules under the CWA.
- once a plan amendment is approved by the source protection authority, the authority would need to send a notice of the amendment to the MECP Director and every person or body that is responsible for implementing a policy that is affected by the amendment stating that an amendment to a source protection plan has been approved
- along with the notice that the plan amendments have been approved, other information would be submitted to the MECP Director such as a summary of the plan amendments and consultation, the amended source protection plan, technical studies, copies of the explanatory document, copies of municipal resolutions, comments received during consultation and mapping information
- the regulation would also include transition provisions for source protection plan amendments that are in progress when the regulatory amendments take effect
- when an amendment is being submitted for Minister approval, specifying documents and information (such as technical studies, copies of the explanatory document, mapping, etc.) required to be included by the source protection authority to constitute a complete submission, for the Director to determine the amendment package is complete and accurate
- streamlining consultation on plan amendments into one phase, from two, through the removal of the requirement for pre-consultation with implementing bodies (currently required in sections 35 to 39 of the regulation). Consultation requirements are also proposed to be updated to reflect modern practices, including the removal of mandatory newspaper notifications. This would apply to any plan amendment, whether the approval authority is the Minister or the source protection authority
- additional types of minor plan amendments would be able to be made using the existing streamlined process set out in section 51 of the regulation (which does not involve consultation or approval). This is proposed to include plan amendments that:
- clarify the narrative sections of the source protection plans, without changing the policies themselves
- change policy implementation timelines in the source protection plan where the Minister or his or her delegate has provided an extension to a deadline in a source protection plan policy
- address a well or intake that is replacing an existing well or intake, if:
- amendments to the source protection plan would result in only a slight change to the delineation of the corresponding wellhead protection area or intake protection zone due to the replacement of the well or intake, and the revised delineation does not capture new activities that are considered significant drinking water threats that are currently occurring
- the plan has already incorporated the most recent technical rules
- rationale is provided to the ministry that the amendment would only require re-delineation of the protection area immediately adjacent to the well or intake (i.e., a wellhead protection area A or an intake protection zone one)
Changes are also proposed in the General Regulation (O. Reg. 287/07) to address the interaction between source protection plan policies affecting prescribed instruments and other policy tools. These include:
- source protection plans can use the risk management plan tool (section 58 of the CWA), which prohibits a person from engaging in an activity where it would be a significant threat except in accordance with a risk management plan, which is agreed to or established by a risk management official. Under section 61 of O. Reg. 287/07) a person can obtain an exemption from the requirement for a risk management plan if the person can show that their activity is already governed by a prescribed instrument and provides the risk management official with a statement that provisions have been included in the instrument to ensure that the instrument conforms to the significant threat policies set out in the source protection plan
- changes are proposed to set out circumstances where Part IV risk management plan policies and prohibitions (under s.57 and 58 of the CWA) cannot be used by a source protection plan to deal with significant drinking water threat activities, due to the activities already being subject to the requirement for a prescribed instrument. O. Reg. 287/07 already prohibits a source protection plan from using Part IV of the CWA for waste disposal sites and sewage works that require an ECA. The Ministry is considering adding to this list so that if a prescribed instrument can deal with a significant threat activity – it be used as the tool rather than using Part IV of the CWA
Changes are proposed to provide that in these situations, if a statement is provided and the prescribed instrument is not issued by a provincial body but created by the person engaged in the activity (e.g., Nutrient Management Plan), the risk management official may review the prescribed instrument to determine if the provisions meet the same test for establishing a risk management plan under section 58 of the CWA. If the risk management official determine after their review that this is not the case, the risk management official may require a risk management plan for the activity.
2. New Minister’s regulation under the Clean Water Act
To support the legislative proposal for the new approach for policies affecting prescribed instruments, a new Minister’s regulation is required and is proposed to:
- establish standardized wording for policies that affect prescribed instruments. The standardized wording would need to be used in source protection plans if these types of policies are included in the plans. Standard policy wording would place responsibility on the issuer/creator of the prescribed instrument to achieve the objective that the threat ceases to be or never becomes a significant drinking water (i.e. the threat is managed) threat by including provisions in the instrument
- increase transparency and consistency by requiring documentation of how a prescribed instrument decision maker reviewed and amended the instrument to ensure the significant threat activity ceases to be or never becomes a significant threat. Requirements would also be included to ensure prescribed instrument decision-makers report annually to the source protection authority to assist in their preparation of an annual progress report. The purpose of this change is to streamline and make consistent these reporting obligations. This would remove the need for such policies in a source protection plan, as these obligations would be set forth in regulation
- require that the review, removal and/or replacement of existing prescribed instrument policies in plans and their associated reporting (i.e., “monitoring”) polices take place within a proposed timeframe of 2 years as well as providing notice to the MECP Director when this has been completed
- with respect to the review by prescribed instrument decision-makers of existing prescribed instruments affected by a source protection plan amendment (e.g. where a new vulnerable area is delineated), establish a timeline of three years for such reviews. This ensures a timely and consistent review of existing instruments to consider whether the instruments require modification to manage risks to the source. As is current practice, it would be up to the issuer/creator of the instrument to determine whether the prescribed instrument needs to be amended
3. Changes to O. Reg. 205/18 (Municipal Residential Drinking Water Systems in Source Protection Areas) and O. Reg. 287/07
Changes to O. Reg. 205/18 Municipal Residential Drinking Water Systems in Source Protection Areas are proposed to allow the supply of drinking water when an amendment to a drinking water works permits or municipal drinking water licence is granted, before an amendment to a source protection plan is complete, in certain circumstances.
When the source protection authority provides the municipal drinking water system owner with the notice under subsection 48 (1.1) of O.Reg 287/07 indicating that technical work for the plan amendment is complete, the provision would be amended to give the source protection authority the ability to indicate in the notice to the approving Director for drinking water works permits and municipal drinking water licences under the Safe Drinking Water Act that a condition is not required to be included in the permit or licence to prohibit the supply of drinking water before the source protection plan amendment is approved. In this case, if the Director grants the amendment to the permit or licence, the Director would not be required to include a prohibition on supplying water in the permit or licence as is currently the case but rather the approach would be more flexible to reflect the circumstances. The source protection authority can set out in the notice the timeline for which the plan amendment could be approved, but this can not be more than three years.
The source protection authority would be enabled to include an indication in a notice to the Director that a condition to prohibit the supply of drinking water does not need to be included in the permit or licence only if at least one of the following circumstances are met. The source protection authority would make this determination with advice from the municipality.
Circumstances are proposed to include:
- Where the application for the permit or licence is for a proposed alteration to an existing drinking water system, and the source protection authority outlines its rationale for why the supply of water does not need to be prohibited until the plan amendment is complete, including consideration of the vulnerable area mapping, an assessment of threats identified, the application of existing policies to manage the threats within the vulnerable area, any additional plan policies that may be needed to mitigate threats, and the timelines needed to implement them.
- Where the plan amendment that would be advisable to make is one that can be completed through section 51 under O. Reg. 287/07, such as where a replacement well or intake is occurring.
Currently, changes to a municipal drinking water licence for an existing municipal residential system—such as an adjustment to the volume supplied—do not require an amendment to the source protection plan before water can be supplied, even though such an amendment may be advisable. Changes to O. Reg. 205/08 are proposed to require that a condition prohibiting the supply of water be included if an amendment to a licence is granted, until amendments to the source protection plan, where advisable, are complete. The condition would not need to be included if similar circumstances are met as outlined above.
Analysis of the regulatory impact
Ontario is facing a housing shortage, and more infrastructure will be required to meet rising residential development needs. This will result in many source protection plan amendments, a high workload and wait times for water to be available to residential developments.
The proposal would save source protection authorities, municipalities, developers, ministries, communities, and businesses time and money and reduce red tape for key sectors such as housing development and infrastructure.
The changes would allow for source protection plans to be updated faster and more efficiently by consulting with the right people at the right time and reducing plan approvals by up to 12 months.
We are working to develop a Regulatory Impact Assessment to determine potential costs or estimated savings related to this proposal.
By implementing streamlining procedures, we anticipate there may be some cost savings for source protection authorities in the long-term, through standardization of certain policies, fewer plan submissions to the ministry for approval and a more efficient consultation process.
Through this posting, we welcome comments on anticipated benefits or costs to better help the Ministry understand the real costs or cost savings associated with these proposed changes.
Supporting materials
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Some supporting materials may not be available online. If this is the case, you can request to view the materials in person.
Get in touch with the office listed below to find out if materials are available.
300 Water Street North tower, 5th floor
Peterborough,
ON
K9J 3C7
Canada
Comment
Commenting is now closed.
This consultation was open from October 20, 2025
to December 4, 2025
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Public Input Coordinator - Source Protection
300 Water Street North tower, 5th floor
Peterborough,
ON
K9J 3C7
Canada
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