Conservation authorities raise concern over plan to fast-track home building

Conservation authorities are raising concerns about the province’s More Homes Built Faster Act, which is designed to bolster the housing supply across Ontario.

Those agencies responsible for the environmental stewardship of our most sensitive woodlots and wetlands say a diminishing role in development applications will be a detriment to the environment, and will mean higher costs for taxpayers.

“If we start to remove wetlands and woodlots, without that concern for the impacts downstream, or the impact on the system as a whole we call the watershed, I think we can set ourselves up for problems in the future,” says Geoff Cade, the manager of water and planning at the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority.

The proposed legislation aims to build 1.5 million homes across the province over the next ten years, but would leave conservation authorities without input into development applications.

Cade says it amounts to a “buy now but pay a more costly price later” type of scenario when flooding and other extreme events take place.

“More expensive certainly, and potentially we’re going to have to be reactive in the future as opposed to right now where we’re proactive,” explains Cade. “Stepping outside the conservation authority role, I think municipalities may have a lot of concern this sets up a lot of sprawl in areas where maybe it’s under-serviced with municipal services.”

Lucan-Biddulph Mayor-Elect Cathy Burghardt-Jesson says it is work that will need to be done either way, and municipalities would have to shop the more expensive private sector for the same consulting services in development applications.

“When it come to environmental assessments, conservation authorities are the experts,” she explains. “They’re publicly funded, they’re public agencies, and their bottom line is different than a private sector company.”

Premier Doug Ford said Tuesday the province needs to prepare for a wave of Ontario-bound immigrants.

“60 per cent of those new Canadians are going to show up to Toronto [and] the GTA,” said Ford. “Where are we going to put 300,000 people a year? Almost a million people in three years because of the inaction of previous governments that didn’t want to take the bold steps to get housing built.”

The province has also asked conservation authorities to identify lands they own, such as green spaces and natural habitats that would be suitable for new development.