Project Overview
The LCO’s A New Environmental Bill of Rights for Ontario: Final Report is the first independent, comprehensive review of Ontario’s Environmental Bill of Rights, 1993 (EBR) since its enactment. The EBR was groundbreaking at the time, introducing new mechanisms for public participation, transparency, and government accountability in environmental decision-making.
The LCO’s project examined how well the EBR is working after more than thirty years, and whether it should be updated to reflect current environmental priorities and accountability strategies.
Following two years of research and consultations, the LCO has concluded that the EBR is no longer meeting Ontarians’ needs. Policy changes and gaps in enforcement have shielded significant provincial environmental decisions from public scrutiny.
The EBR has also failed to evolve with modern environmental priorities such as the right to a healthy environment, environmental justice, climate change, and Indigenous reconciliation. Major law reforms are needed to restore accountability, strengthen environmental governance, and ensure the EBR reflects contemporary environmental values and challenges.
Advisory Committee
The Advisory Committee members were:
- Julie Abouchar — Partner at Willms & Shier Environmental Lawyers LLP
- Susan Chiblow — Professor at University of Guelph, School of Environment
- Lisa DeMarco — CEO & Senior Partner at Resilient LLP
- Jula Hughes — Dean & Professor at Bora Laskin Faculty of Law, Lakehead University
- Richard Lindgren — Lawyer at Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA)
- Heather McLeod Kilmurray — Professor at University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law
- Cherie Metcalf — Associate Professor at Queen’s University, Faculty of Law
- Ian Miron — Lawyer at Ecojustice Canada
- Lori Mishibinijima — Program Manager & Special Adviser Indigenous & Reconciliation Initiatives, York University
- Paul Muldoon — Past Vice-Chair at Environmental Review Tribunal
- Rod Northey — Partner at Gowling WLG (Certified Specialist Environmental Law)
- Alexandria Pike — Partner at Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP
- Dayna Scott — Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School & York Research Chair in Environmental Law & Justice in the Green Economy
Key Recommendations
The LCO makes 58 recommendations forming a three-part law reform strategy to modernize Ontario’s environmental accountability framework.
1. Update the EBR’s purposes and principles
- Incorporate a right to a healthy environment.
- Establish a right for residents to bring environmental protection actions.
- Embed environmental justice principles throughout the EBR.
- Modernize the Act’s stated purposes to reflect current environmental priorities.
2. Strengthen public participation and accountability
- Enhance Statements of Environmental Values and the role of the Commissioner of the Environment.
- Improve public access to environmental information and data transparency.
- Expand opportunities for meaningful participation in provincial environmental decision-making.
3. Clarify and modernize EBR procedures
- Update rules for standing and judicial review.
- Clarify exceptions under the Act.
- Remove the outdated statutory cause of action for harm to a public resource.
The full list of recommendations appears in Appendix A of the Final Report and Executive Summary.