Kawartha Lakes council opposes provincial plan to amalgamate conservation authorities
Kawartha Lakes Council has formally opposed the Province of Ontario’s proposal to reduce the number of conservation authorities from 36 to seven, citing concerns about local governance, accountability, and cost impacts on municipalities.
The resolution was brought forward by Councillor Pat Warren, chair of Kawartha Conservation and vice chair of Conservation Ontario, and received council’s support.
“The province contributes roughly five per cent of conservation authority funding, while municipalities cover the remaining costs,” said Coun. Warren. “Given that reality, municipalities should have a meaningful say in any major structural changes. To date, there has been no data presented that demonstrates why this amalgamation is necessary.”
For decades, municipalities have governed their respective conservation authorities, tailoring programs and services to local watershed needs, maintaining clear service standards, and ensuring predictable and transparent costs for taxpayers. Coun. Warren said the current system is functioning as intended and delivering results.
“If the province’s concern is permit turnaround times for developers and builders, Kawartha Conservation already meets provincial service standards and, in many cases, exceeds them,” Warren said.
“There is no evidence that amalgamation would improve performance. If the province determines that different outcomes or timelines are needed, those expectations should be clearly defined. Conservation authorities have demonstrated they can meet established standards without the need for a wholesale restructuring of the system.”
Warren noted that Conservation Ontario has already developed and implemented faster permitting standards, adopted by conservation authorities across the province, standards that are in some cases more efficient than those currently required by provincial regulation.
“This raises the question of what problem amalgamation is actually trying to solve,” she said. “What it risks creating instead are additional layers of bureaucracy, reduced local responsiveness, and higher administrative costs, all of which would ultimately be borne by municipal taxpayers.”
Under the proposed model, Kawartha Lakes would become part of a significantly larger eastern conservation authority, potentially governed alongside up to 48 municipalities. A separate northern authority could encompass as many as 75 municipalities, stretching as far as Thunder Bay.
Council also expressed concern that the proposal is being advanced without adequate detail or meaningful consultation with local communities. As currently proposed, the amalgamation could leave municipalities facing higher costs without a clearly defined role in governance or decision making.
“As it stands, there is not enough detail to fully understand the implications of this proposal,” said Warren. “Municipalities could be asked to assume additional costs without a corresponding level of influence over decisions. The current model is working well, and any changes should build on that success rather than replace it.”
Residents are encouraged to review the proposal and share their feedback through the Environmental Registry of Ontario before Dec. 22.
This situation is analgous to Children debating with their Parents about a change of house rules.
The household analog: “Children could be asked (by their Parents) to assume additional household chores, without a corresponding level of influence over decisions.”
Lets not forget that Municipalities are creations of the Province. Municipalities and Local Councillors operate under Provincial Rules known as the Municipal Act, and in recent years, Municipalities have an increasing number of terms and conditons imposed in funding agreements. The Province is superior, and sets the rules.
The Province says:
“The current system of 36 separate conservation authorities is fragmented, with each conservation authority following different policies, standards, fees and levels of staffing and technical capabilities. This has led to unpredictable and inconsistent turnaround times for approvals across all conservation authorities, creating uncertainty and delays for builders, landowners and farmers seeking permits, and undermining conservation authorities’ ability to protect communities from floods and natural hazards.”
“These proposed improvements to the conservation authority system would reduce duplicative administrative costs, free-up resources for frontline conservation, and better align conservation authorities’ services with provincial priorities on housing, the economy, infrastructure and climate resilience.”
“The regional conservation authorities would continue to focus on managing natural hazards and watershed health, drawing on decades of local knowledge and partnerships. With better tools and more resources for front-line staff, the regional conservation authorities would operate with greater consistency and transparency, deliver faster services to municipalities and permit applicants, while ensuring decisions continue to be based on sound science.”
Builders in Ontario are pushing for faster housing approvals, consistent standards, and less red tape to combat high costs and slow construction, with the government responding with legislation to streamline planning, cut fees, and encourage density, though some critics say it’s not enough as housing starts remain low, pointing to market issues like high interest rates and bureaucratic hurdles as key challenges. Industry groups, like the OHBA, want more alignment between provincial goals and municipal practices, emphasizing consistent standards and faster site plan reviews to get shovels in the ground quicker and reduce development costs.
Builder Concerns:
Slow Approvals: Lengthy, cumbersome municipal approval processes add significant costs (thousands per unit per month) and delays, hindering new builds.
Inconsistent Standards: Varying municipal building and development standards across the province create unnecessary costs and inefficiencies, says BILD.
Bureaucratic Red Tape: Too many layers of regulation and process slow down the entire development cycle.
High Costs: Development charges, taxes, and input costs are major barriers, leading to fewer projects, especially for condos.
Last February Ontario voters sent Doug Ford and the Ontario PCs back to the legislature with 67% of the seats.
That’s a strong mandate from Ontario voters to solve housing and affordability, among other issues.
Builders say Slow Approvals, Inconsistent Standards, Bureaucratic Red Tape, Development charges, taxes, and input costs are major barriers to building homes faster.
I think Municipalities and Councillors should stay in their lane and let our elected MPPs do what they were elected to do.
There are lots of pot holes to fix in local roads. There are many productive things local councils can be working on, but telling the Province what to do is not likely one of them.
Seriously? Even when our “elected MPPs” are swerving further and further off course? Someone needs to push them back into the right lane and who better to do that than our municipalities? After all, they too were elected by us!
Kawatha lakes holds back permits and is the worst to do Buissness with.
I appealed Mr Ford for taking such actions as we need houses for people to live in.
The conservation has taken many properties that already have zoning to build on and created costly road blocks playing victim to the environment. Unfortunately it’s the complete opposite and it’s nothing but a huge scam. Of course city council doesn’t like this move because they will actually have to do work