Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, 2025

RÉSUMÉ DU REGISTRE OFFICIEL

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SCHEDULE 1 ELECTRICITY ACT, 1998 Various amendments are made to the Electricity Act, 1998 . Subsection 25.32 (5) of the Act authorizes the issuance of directives requiring the IESO to undertake a request for proposal or other procurement initiative or activity relating to a specified matter respecting electricity. The section is amended to specify that any such directive may set out requirements or restrictions relating to the geographic origin of any good or service used in connection with the matter to which the directive relates or of any person or entity that is connected to the good or service in the specified manner. The section is also amended to provide that the IESO is not permitted to enter into a procurement contract that relates to specified matters respecting electricity in circumstances that may be prescribed by regulations made under the Act, including respecting the geographic origin of the applicable good or service or of any person or entity that is connected to the good or service in the specified manner. Finally, a new section 25.32.1 is added to provide that the IESO is not permitted to procure a good or service that relates to something other than one of the specified matters respecting electricity, if the good or service meets the conditions prescribed by the regulations respecting geographic origin. A new section 53.6.1 provides for restrictions respecting the procurement by Ontario Power Generation Inc., or by any of its subsidiaries that may be specified by the regulations, of a good or service that meets the conditions prescribed by the regulations respecting geographic origin. A new section 3.2 provides for the extinguishment of specified causes of action against the Crown, the IESO, Ontario Power Generation Inc. and other specified persons in connection with the amendments made to the Act, including for things done or not done in accordance with those amendments. It also provides for a bar on legal proceedings connected to those matters. SCHEDULE 2 ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT, 2007 Various amendments are made to the Endangered Species Act, 2007 , including: 1. Amendments to the purpose of the Act. 2. Amendments to several definitions in subsection 2 (1), including a new definition of “habitat”. 3. Section 2.1 is added to the Act to enable the Minister to delegate powers and duties under the Act. 4. The following changes are made to section 7 so that making a regulation under that section is no longer mandatory but at the discretion of the Lieutenant Governor in Council: i. The Lieutenant Governor in Council would be authorized to make a regulation listing species that are classified by COSSARO as extirpated species, endangered species, threatened species or special concern species. ii. Such a regulation would not be required to list all of the species classified by COSSARO but, if a species is listed, the classification of the species must be the same as COSSARO’s classification. iii. Requirements under the Act relating to a species that has been removed from the list cease to have effect. 5. The temporary suspension of protections upon initial listing of a species is removed. 6. Provisions regarding government response statements, management plans and agreements are repealed and transitional amendments are made throughout to refer to requirements that continue in respect of instruments that existed before the date of repeal. 7. Section 17 is re-enacted to remove the need for conditions to be satisfied before certain permits could be issued, remove reference to species conservation charges and make other changes. 8. Section 18, which authorizes persons to engage in prohibited activities set out in a regulation if the activity is regulated under another Act, is repealed. 9. Sections 20 and 30, which deal with hearings, are repealed and section 30 is replaced with provisions governing appeals of permits and orders. 10. Subsections 20.3 (7) to (9) are added to the Act to address the cessation of monies being paid into the Fund. 11. Section 20.19 is added to provide for the wind up of the Agency. 12. Section 22.1 is added to require persons to respond to reasonable inquiries related to determining if the person is in compliance with the Act or regulations. 13. Changes are made to the inspection powers to remove a requirement for a warrant with respect to certain inspections. 14. Amendments are made to remove the ability of enforcement officers to issue stop orders and to authorize provincial officers to issue contravention orders and to authorize the Minister to issue mitigation orders. 15. The name of the Species at Risk in Ontario Stewardship Program is changed to the Species Conservation Program. 16. The authorization for the Minister to establish an advisory committee is removed. 17. Section 57, which sets out special requirements for certain regulations, is repealed. 18. Schedules 1 to 5 are repealed. 19. Various other administrative and consequential amendments.