Changes coming to Conservation Authorities

LPRCA chair Doug Brunton presented 15-year appreciation certificates to Norfolk’s Mike Columbus and Tillsonburg’s Dave Beres at the LPRCA annual general meeting. 

Chris Abbott

Editor

On March 10, the Ontario Government announced it planned to consolidate its 36 Conservation Authorities into seven, slightly changing direction from its 2025 proposal of nine.

Just four days earlier, the Long Point Region Conservation Authority had held its annual meeting on Friday, March 6, without knowing the announcement would be coming that soon after the meeting.

Judy Maxwell, LPRCA General Manager, Secretary-Treasurer, presenting the LPRCA annual report on behalf of the board of directors, noted, “There has been very little information released regarding the proposed Regional Consolidation of Conservation Authorities.”

“The province announced the proposed amalgamations of Conservation Authorities into seven Regional Conservation Authorities on Oct. 31st, 2025,” said Doug Brunton, LPRCA board chair, during the LPRCA meeting in Tillsonburg.

“The board of directors does not support the Regional Conservation Authority consolidation proposal that was outlined in the Environmental Registry of Ontario,” said Brunton.

In December 2025, LPRCA discussed the consolidation proposal, stating the LPRCA Board of Directors “acknowledges and supports the Province’s goals of improved efficiency, consistency and fiscal responsibility in conservation delivery; however, the LPRCA Board of Directors does not support the proposed Lake Erie Regional Conservation Authority boundary configuration.”

“The LPRCA noted that the proposed boundaries are too large to sustain the effective, locally responsive services and programs that are currently delivered,” said Brunton. “The Lake Erie Regional Conservation Authority, in which LPRCA would be consolidated with seven other Conservation Authorities, involves 81 municipalities, which would dilute or eliminate the voices of rural municipalities.

“Although at this time the details of the proposed consolidation have not yet been released, we appreciate the comments and concerns shared with Province of Ontario regarding the proposed consolidation of Conservation Authorities. We remain hopeful that our collective efforts have been heard and the importance of locally driven watershed-based programs and services will continue into the future.”

“I would think that the Ontario Government has to make a decision fairly quickly because there is a local municipal election coming up in the fall,” said Mike Columbus, Norfolk Councillor and LPRCA board member after the March 6th meeting. “I would think they will have something out shortly. It’s been sitting on the burner – the front burner, not the back burner – for a considerable length of time.

“I think the key is not to rush into it,” said Columbus, “and make the correct decision for the future of Conservation Authorities and all the watersheds in the province. It’s absolutely important that they put the right pieces together.

“Every Conservation Authority has some uniqueness to it. For example, we here in Long Point have the Lee Brown Marsh, which is very unique. We have a number of private campgrounds – five of them, and we have a lot of woodlots – I think 9,000 acres of woodlots, which we harvest and get an income off them to maintain our other properties. So we have those resources here, but maybe other municipalities and watersheds do not have that. They may have something different that they are concerned about.

“We’re all about protecting people and property,” Columbus concluded. “That’s what it’s about.”

“With the pending consolidation of Conservation Authorities, we hope and trust the Province will ask us for input,” said Dave Beres, Tillsonburg Deputy Mayor and LPRCA past-president after the annual meeting, “because we are the ‘the boots on the ground’ for conservation, and we can continue to serve the lands and the people, in the best interests of the future.

“It’s happening,” said Beres. “We want to be involved, so let’s not try to fight it, let’s work with them. Allow us to give input. I think all the Conservation Authorities in Ontario feel the same way. Let us have some input, don’t just ram this down our throats. We are the ones that are here, we already understand what the needs are, and it’s very obvious the Province just wants to build homes faster. That’s their motto and they feel it will help. And I can’t see that it will.”

The planned nine Conservation Areas announced on March 10 effectively split the proposed Lake Erie agency, which stretched all the way from Niagara to Windsor/Essex County, in half. LPRCA will be grouped with with Kettle Creek Conservation Authority, Catfish Creek Conservation Authority, and Grand River Conservation Authority. The changes are expected in 2027.