Conservation Authority Act changes are coming - Landowners beware

The Ontario Government has recently introduced Bill 139, the Building Better Communities and Conserving Watersheds Act, 2017.  While the proposed legislation has been in the news on account of the major changes to be made to land use planning, replacing the Ontario Municipal Board with the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal, the legislation would also make significant changes to the Conservation Authorities Act.  The summary notes for Bill 139 explain:

The provisions regulating activities that may be carried out in the areas over which authorities have jurisdiction are substantively amended (sections 28 and 29). Section 28 of the Act is repealed.  That section currently gives authorities certain regulation-making powers, including the power to regulate the straightening, changing and diverting of watercourses and development in their areas of jurisdiction and to prohibit or require the permission of the authority for such activities. The re-enacted section 28 prohibits such activities so that the previous regulation-making power is no longer required. Furthermore, new section 28.1 gives the authorities the power to issue permits allowing persons to engage in the prohibited activities and section 28.3 allows authorities to cancel the permits in specified circumstances. New regulation-making powers are set out in section 28.5 in respect of activities that impact the conservation, restoration, development or management of natural resources.

Sections 30 and 30.1 are repealed and sections 30 to 30.4 are enacted in relation to the enforcement of the Act and offences. Authorities are given the power to appoint officers who may enter lands to ensure compliance with the Act, the regulations and with permit conditions. The officers are also given the power to issue stop orders in specified circumstances. Offences for contraventions of the Act, the regulations, permit conditions and stop orders are set out in section 30.4 and the maximum fines under the Act are increased from $10,000 to $50,000 in the case of an individual and to $1,000,000 in the case of a corporation. An additional fine of $10,000 a day for individuals and $200,000 a day for corporations may be imposed for each day the offence continues after the conviction. Section 30.6 expands the existing powers of the court when ordering persons convicted of an offence to repair or rehabilitate any damage resulting from the commission of the offence.

As drafted, the new legislation would prohibit "development" (without a permit) in the same areas currently covered by the Conservation Authorities Act and the individual CA regulations made under it, as well as in "other areas in which development should be prohibited or regulated, as may be determined by the regulations."  Whether that amendment makes much practical difference is debatable, but another related change will most likely have a practical effect for landowners in Ontario.  Whereas in the current Act, terms like "development" and "wetland" are defined, the new legislation says that those essential terms will be defined by regulation to be made by the provincial cabinet (and, more particularly, the Ministry of Natural Resources).  It's not clear at this point how the terms will be defined.

If Bill 139 passes, then landowners should take great interest in the development of the regulations to be made pursuant to the Act.  Those regulations could effect significant change in the way that the use of land, including farm land, is restricted in Ontario.

Read the Bill at: Bill 139, Building Better Communities and Conserving Watersheds Act, 2017.