Conservation authorities are required to have a number of strategies and plans in place under the Conservation Authorities Act. These include:
About the Conservation Authorities Act
Conservation authorities are watershed management agencies established under the Conservation Authorities Act, 1946.
The purpose of the Conservation Authorities Act is to provide for the organization and delivery of programs and services that further the conservation, restoration, development, and management of natural resources in watersheds in Ontario.
Conservation authorities work in partnership with all levels of government, landowners, and other agencies. Additional background information on conservation authorities is available through Conservation Ontario.
Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) was formed in 1957 and is one of 36 conservation authorities in Ontario governed by the Conservation Authorities Act.
TRCA’s jurisdiction includes nine watersheds and the Lake Ontario shoreline. This area includes six upper or single-tier and 15 lower-tier municipalities representing almost five million people, or approximately 10% of Canada’s population.
Additional information on TRCA’s area of jurisdiction and partnering municipalities is available HERE.
About Ontario Regulation 686/21
Ontario Regulation 686/21: Mandatory Programs & Services, issued pursuant to section 21.1 of the Conservation Authorities Act, requires all conservation authorities to provide:
- Programs and services related to the risk of natural hazards
- Programs and services related to the conservation and management of lands owned or controlled by the authority, including any interests in land registered on title
- Other programs and services prescribed in the regulation
- Programs and services related to the authority’s duties, functions, and responsibilities as a source protection authority under the Clean Water Act, 2006
- Programs and services related to the authority’s duties, functions, and responsibilities under an Act prescribed by regulations
As part of the implementation, Ontario Regulation 686/21 requires all conservation authorities to prepare the following documents by December 31, 2024:
- Conservation Area Strategy
- Watershed-based Resource Management Strategy
- Land Inventory
- Ice Management Plan
- Flood & Erosion Infrastructure Asset Management Plan
- Flood & Erosion Infrastructure Operational Plan
The regulation stipulates that the conservation authority shall ensure stakeholders and the public are consulted during the preparation of the Conservation Area Strategy and Watershed-based Resource Management Strategy.
What Does This Mean for TRCA?
Many of TRCA’s existing programs and plans fulfill or exceed the information requirements or components of the Strategies and Plans required by the Province.
These include:
- TRCA Watershed Plans
- Flood Infrastructure Asset Management Plan and Operations and Maintenance Standards Manuals for all TRCA Dams
- Trail Strategy for the Greater Toronto Region
- Greenspace Acquisition Project 2021-2030
TRCA has ensured that the strategic work of these programs and plans is consolidated, documented, and updated to match the requirements of the regulation for each Strategy or Plan.
These Strategies and Plans support the following pillars and outcomes in TRCA’s 2023-2034 Strategic Plan:
- Pillar 1 – Environmental Protection and Hazard Management:
1.1 Deliver provincially mandated services pertaining to flood and erosion hazards
1.2 Leadership in greenspace conservation - Pillar 3 – Community Prosperity:
3.1 Connect communities to nature and greenspace - Pillar 4 – Service Excellence:
4.4 Transparent decision making and accountable results
The Strategies and Plans are also consistent with TRCA’s Memorandums of Understanding for Municipally Requested Services.
Conservation Area Strategy
Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) has developed a Conservation Area Strategy (“CA Strategy”) to guide the programs and services we offer on lands that we own and steward.
The CA Strategy helps us continue to be a leader in the protection and enhancement of greenspaces. It provides direction on how we conserve our conservation areas, with its objectives used to create management policies, plans, and practices for these lands.
The CA Strategy identifies:
- Goals and objectives to guide our actions for lands owned and stewarded by TRCA.
- Mandatory and non-mandatory programs and services on lands owned and stewarded by TRCA, including their sources of funding.
- How TRCA lands augment natural heritage and integrate with other public lands and trails.
- Land use categories used to classify lands in TRCA’s Land Inventory.
- How the CA Strategy will be reviewed and updated.
Watershed-based Resource
Management Strategy
Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) has developed a Watershed-based Resource Management Strategy (“Watershed Strategy”) to guide our programs and services.
VIEW APPENDICES TO THE STRATEGY
The Watershed Strategy helps TRCA and our partner municipalities guide how our future watershed plans are developed and updated, and then implemented through our programs and services.
These watershed plans are our blueprint for sustainable development, ensuring that our rivers and surrounding lands thrive for generations to come, and identify what actions should be taken to conserve our watersheds.
The Watershed Strategy identifies:
- Guiding principles and objectives to direct decisions about watershed health.
- Additional information about watershed planning and the process for making decisions about watershed health.
- A plan for future watershed planning
- How the Watershed Strategy will be reviewed and updated
Land Inventory
TRCA’s Land Inventory identifies every parcel of land that TRCA owns and includes some basic information for each parcel, such as location, acquisition date, method, and land use category, among others.
The Land Inventory will be reviewed and updated from time to time and is an internal document that is not available online.
Ice Management Plan
TRCA’s Ice Management Plan identifies:
- How ice within TRCA’s area of jurisdiction may increase the risk of natural hazards
- The steps necessary to mitigate these risks, including identifying equipment and resources needed to carry out these steps
The Ice Management Plan may be updated from time to time.
Flood & Erosion Asset Management Plan
TRCA’s Flood & Erosion Asset Management Plan (AMP) identifies:
- Asset Inventory: The plan includes a comprehensive list of all flood and erosion control structures owned by TRCA. There are over 800 structures owned by TRCA that provide flood and erosion protection.
- Levels of Service: TRCA tracks the level of service provided by these flood and erosion control structures to ensure they are performing as designed
- Asset Management Strategy: The asset management strategy outlines the process of inspecting structures, performing preventative maintenance, and prioritizing and undertaking capital works ensuring the safe operation of these structures.
- Financial Strategy: The financial strategy component of the AMP summarizes the strategy for obtaining the funding to operate and maintain these structures in a good state of repair
The Flood & Erosion Asset Management Plan may be updated from time to time.
Flood & Erosion Infrastructure Operational Plan
TRCA’s Flood & Erosion Infrastructure Operational Plan identifies:
- The purpose of each structure
- The operations required to meet the design targets of the structure
- The maintenance procedures required to ensure the structure is always operable
- The surveillance that is required to ensure the structure is operating safely and as intended in the original design
The Flood & Erosion Infrastructure Operational Plan may be updated from time to time.
More Resources
APPENDIX A TO THE WATERSHED STRATEGY:
Study and Monitoring Program Summaries
- Conservation Authority Policy and Procedure Documents
- Climate Change Studies
- Erosion Hazard Studies and Mapping
- Flood Hazard and Water Quantity Studies
- Flood Risk Management
- Great Lake Studies
- Monitoring Programs
- Natural Systems Studies
- Source Water Protection Assessment Reports and Plans
- Water Quality Studies
- Watershed Plans and Studies