OFA has provided comments to the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (Conservation and Source Protection Branch) on proposed boundaries for the regional consolidation of Ontario’s conservation authorities.
OFA supports reforming Ontario’s Conservation Authority system to improve consistency, reduce duplication, and better align with provincial priorities, while ensuring agriculture and rural communities are meaningfully represented. OFA calls for standardized, transparent permitting processes, elimination of duplicative requirements through a one-window approach, proportional agricultural representation on CA boards, and retention of local agricultural expertise. OFA raises concerns that the proposed seven large regional CAs are too geographically expansive to reflect local watershed and agricultural realities and instead recommends 19 regions aligned with existing Source Protection Regions. OFA also stresses that any Provincial Ontario Conservation Authority must include agricultural representation, offer a farmer-friendly permitting system supported by knowledgeable staff, and provide a fair, affordable dispute resolution process.