A decision to shrink the number of Ontario conservation authorities (CAs) from 36 to nine is causing concerns amongst conservation organizations.
More than 14,000 individuals, municipalities, and organizations submitted comments to the Environmental Registry of Ontario post 025-1257, which was closed for comment in late December.
It proposed reducing the number of CAs to seven. The final decision was for nine authorities, with other changes, including the creation of a watershed council that will align more closely with the former conservation authority boundaries and governance moving to upper-tier municipalities from local townships and counties.
“To be clear, conservation authorities will continue to provide the same programs and services they deliver today,” Alexandru Cioban of the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks said. “Their mandate, and service areas will remain unchanged. Furthermore, conservation authorities will remain municipally governed, local offices will stay open, and the newly formed local watershed councils will ensure that the voices of municipal leaders, Indigenous communities, and local experts remain a part of watershed planning.
One of the potential issues for many anglers and hunters, and expressed by the OFAH, is access to the thousands of acres owned by the province’s conservation authorities, because of decision making covering a larger area.
“While the expansion of the proposed authorities from seven to nine is a small improvement, the updated proposal leaves many of our key concerns unaddressed,” OFAH Fish and Wildlife Biologist Matthew Robbins said.
“The shift from local to regional decision-making is concerning from a conservation and access perspective, as the proposed approach to CA boards will likely result in poor representation for rural communities and none from lower-tier municipalities. This means far less local expertise. I’m glad to see the inclusion of watershed councils but, as advisory bodies, their influence may be limited.
The federation is concerned new boards could be less conservation-orientated, with the new boards not being attuned to specific watersheds, and less hunter-friendly for authority-owned properties.”
“It’s hard to say if these changes will have any direct impact on hunting and fishing opportunities,” Robbins continued. “As the OFAH outlined in our response to the original proposal, if access and opportunity decisions become subject to a larger sphere of influence, we are concerned that opportunities may change on CA lands. On the other hand, this may be an opportunity to do the opposite and create more hunter-friendly standards, which the OFAH will be advocating for.”
Originally published in the Walleye 2026 issue of Ontario Out of Doors magazine
