During my tenure as Auditor General, we have conducted many value-for-money audits on environment-related topics. In the course of that work, we have observed multiple changes made to legislation, regulations, operations, and the way issues affecting the environment have been addressed or not acted on. Actions to address the impacts of climate change, population growth, urban sprawl, and the desire for economic growth can strengthen or weaken needed protections on the environment.
Just as past actions have impacted the environment, future actions too will affect the air we breathe, the water we drink, the land we live and grow crops on, how we handle waste, the changing climate, and the state of nature and wildlife in Ontario. Unless the environmental outcomes of actions are effectively measured, monitored, and publicly reported, there will be limited transparency, accountability, and understanding of their impacts.
However, throughout our work, we have not seen how many of these changes and actions were subsequently evaluated or how the more recent changes and actions will be assessed to determine their longer-term impact on the environment, both positive and negative. From a bottom-line perspective, Ontarians want and need to know whether the Province has been doing a good job protecting our air, water, land, nature, and wildlife. Our 2020 value-for-money report Setting Indicators and Targets, and Monitoring Ontario’s Environment, and our 2021 value-for-money report Reporting on Ontario’s Environment found that relevant data and information on key aspects of the environment were being collected and analyzed in some areas, but not in others. More importantly, little easily understood information is made available telling the public whether the government is doing a good job in protecting our environment.
We found that the Province has not produced a consolidated report on how Ontario is doing in protecting the environment for future generations. This report, The State of the Environment in Ontario, was conceived as an illustration of what can be prepared and provided to the public, based on available information. The report is meant to contribute to the discussion of the benefits of public reporting on the state of the province’s environment and serve as an accountability mechanism for government to inform its citizens objectively about how well it is doing in protecting our environment.
We encourage the Province to undertake regular consolidated public reporting on the state of the environment in Ontario. A healthy environment is important to Ontarians, and the more information that is shared, the
more there will be a common understanding of how collective changes and actions impact the environment
for present and future generations.
In broad terms, we noted the following on the state of Ontario’s environment:
The State of Air: Overall, Ontario’s air quality has improved dramatically over the past several decades. However, there are some exceptions to the positive trends, such as the increase in total particulate matter emissions, and the 23% increase in the average concentration of ground-level ozone from 1990 to 2019.
The State of Water: Water quality varies across Ontario by waterbody. Ontario’s water resources have improved in many ways over the past half-century. However, many positive water quality trends have stalled or even reversed
since the 1990s.
The State of Land and Waste: Southern Ontario has about 25% forest cover today and has lost nearly three-quarters of its wetlands since European settlement began (the majority of wetland loss occurred in the 20th century), primarily to agriculture and development. Land cover in Ontario’s Far North has been subject to far less
disturbance. Ontario’s cropland, which comprises 4% of the province’s total land area, has experienced declines in soil quality. In terms of waste management, Ontario’s current landfill capacity is capable of accepting up to only 13 more years of waste.
The State of the Climate: Climate trends are largely caused by global greenhouse gas emissions, and are not directly reflective of the impacts of emissions from Ontario alone. Still, the long-term trend shows a clear gradual increase in Ontario’s surface air temperature. The number of weather-related disasters, such as severe rain
or ice storms, has grown over the past 100 years from almost one per year in the early 1900s, to an average of about three per year since 2000. The average maximum ice cover across all of the Great Lakes is 26% lower than it was almost 50 years ago. Ontario’s average growing season has lengthened by about 13 days from 1950 to 2018.
The State of Nature and Wildlife: Less is known about the state of, and changes over time in, Ontario’s natural ecosystems and wildlife. More than two-thirds of southern Ontario has been converted to agricultural land and urban areas since the early 1800s. Ontario had approximately 35 million hectares of wetland habitat remaining
in 2011, with 97% of the province’s wetland area found in the North. Also, the average number of hectares lost to deforestation each year is almost quadruple the amount established as new forests.
The Province has not met Ontario’s Biodiversity Strategy target set in 2011 to conserve at least 17% of land and water systems by 2020. As of October 2022, 10.8% of Ontario’s land and water area was being conserved through 1,413 protected and conserved areas. Outside of protected areas, wildlife habitat is highly fragmented—especially in southern Ontario. While the Province does not collect comprehensive, long-term data on wild pollinators (such as bees), evidence shows that some species have declined dramatically. Southern Ontario has one of the highest concentrations of species at risk of extinction in Canada (e.g., Blanding’s turtle, barn swallow, and American badger), primarily because of habitat loss and degradation. Invasive species (e.g., zebra mussels, emerald ash borer, and garlic mustard), which can disrupt ecosystems and affect biodiversity, continue to spread in Ontario.
The Province has made a number of recent decisions (see Appendix 2) that have the potential to significantly impact the environment—either positively or negatively. Regular public reporting on the state of the environment, along the lines of what we have done in this report, would provide information to the public and decision-makers on the
impact of these and other changes.
This report was made possible because of the work of many employees within the Ontario public sector, and the other organizations named in this report, who are dedicated to environmental-related work that serves the critical purpose of providing information that can inform important decision-making to prevent or address harm to our environment.
As we stated in our Reflections to the 2021 Annual Report of Environment Audits:
It is well worth remembering that protecting, conserving, and restoring the environment requires a longer-term
perspective. Whatever the politics of the day, elected governments are called upon to hold this longer-term
perspective in sight. The actions they take, or fail to take, will be measured in the long run by future generations of Ontarians.
Sincerely,
Bonnie Lysyk
Auditor General of Ontario
Dr. Tyler Schulz
Assistant Auditor General,
Commissioner of the Environment