Ontario Government Cuts to Climate Action Policies and Programs and Related Actions
July 2018: Initial regulation to stop cap-and-trade auction activity. Revoked Ontario Regulation 144/16, Enacted Regulation 386/18 to prohibit purchase, sale of credits
July 2018: Cancellation of hundreds of climate action programs including GreenON, electric vehicle subsidies, school and social housing retrofits, & most cap and trade funded programs
August 2018: 758 renewable energy contracts cancelled in Ontario, including the in-progress White Pines Wind Project
September 2018: Ontario misses deadline to submit carbon pricing plan to federal government
September 2018: Act passed cancelling cap-and-trade, the climate change action plan, and Ontario’s previous emissions reduction targets
September 2018: Green Energy Act is repealed and stricter municipal planning requirements for renewable energy projects are introduced
October 2018: Passed Bill 32 to allow expansion of natural gas infrastructure to be paid for by existing ratepayers, and lock in fossil fuel infrastructure for decades
November 2018: Office of Environmental Commissioner of Ontario is cut and rolled into Auditor General’s office, loss of Commissioner Dianne Saxe
November 2018: Legislation revoked that allowiedfor third party ownership of net-metered facilities (i.e. large solar panel installations, wind farms, etc) and virtual net metering, a big setback for renewable energy
November 2018: Ontario launches legal challenge of the federal government’s carbon pricing plan by challenging the constitutional authority of federal government to implement Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act
November 2018: Release of the Made-In-Ontario Environment Plan, outlining climate action plans and weakening the province’s greenhouse gas emission reduction targets
January 2019: Metrolinx removed electric vehicle chargers from GO station parking lots, citing low demand – pilot was supposed to run for 3 years
February 2019: Ontario proposed an Emissions Performance Standards system to price industrial pollution, which would replace federal Output Based Pricing System with weaker standards
February 2019: Proposal to increase renewable fuel content in gasoline ultimately delayed to 2025 with weaker standards than proposed in Made-In-Ontario Environment Plan
March 2019: Cancellation and reduction of electricity conservation programs and centralized delivery of others through the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO)
April 2019: Scrapped the 50 million tree program which helped sequester carbon, protect shorelines, and reduce erosion by planting trees
April 2019: Ontario cuts Conservation Authority flood management budget by 50, which will reduce protection for rivers and wetlands
April 2019: Ontario Budget 2019 cut funding to the Ministry of Environment, Conservation, and Parks by 35%, and little funding included for indicatives in the Made-In-Ontario Environment Plan
May 2019: Proposed changed to the Growth Plan that allow cities and towns to increase their rates of sprawl on to farmland and natural areas, which leads to increased GHG emissions from transportation.
May 2019: Removal of the requirement for electric charging capacity in new buildings, including condominiums
June 2019: Weakening the Environmental Assessment Act through Bill 108 by exempting potentially important projects/activities from an assessment of environmental impacts
July 2019: Ontario Court of Appeal upholds constitutionality of federal carbon pricing plan (appeals to the Supreme Court of Canada now scheduled for 2020)
