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Bill 130, Adapting to a Hotter Ontario Act, 2026

Tabuns, Peter

Bell, Jessica

West, Jamie

Wong-Tam, Kristyn

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First Reading Ordered for Second Reading

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Bill 130 Original (PDF)

EXPLANATORY

NOTE

SCHEDULE 1

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY ACT

The

Schedule amends the Occupational Health and Safety Act

to add a new

Part IV.1. New

Part IV.1 requires the Minister to develop and

implement a Worker Heat Protection Standard and sets out requirements for that

standard. Every employer is required to ensure there is heat stress training

for employees. All employees shall receive compensation at the regular rate at

which the employee is employed for any period required under the Worker Heat

Protection Standard, such as periods for rest, breaks, medical removal

protection and training. For the first five years after the Worker Heat Protection

Standard is implemented, the Minister shall annually present a report to the

Legislature detailing illness and mortality figures relating to heat stress and

the Ministry’s enforcement activities, with respect to the Worker Heat

Protection Standard.

SCHEDULE 2

ONTARIO CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION AND RESILIENCE ACT, 2026

The

Schedule enacts the Ontario Climate Change Adaptation and

Resilience Act, 2026 . The Act provides that the Minister of Environment,

Conservation and Parks or such other member of the Executive Council as may be

assigned the administration of this Act under the Executive

Council Act shall develop and publish a strategic action plan that aims

to ensure that Ontario citizens, communities, infrastructure and natural

environment are protected from the risks and impacts of climate change. The Act

also requires the Minister to establish an arm’s length Ontario Climate

Adaptation Fund to support the implementation of adaptation and resilience

activities included in the strategic action plan. The Minister is also required

to establish the Ontario Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Resource

Centre. The Lieutenant Governor in Council is required to establish a

Whole-of-Government Climate Adaptation Co-ordination Secretariat that, among

other things, will co-ordinate and assist with the implementation of science-aligned

climate adaptation plans for all government ministries and agencies, including

formulating and implementing policy, legislation and regulations.

SCHEDULE 3

PROTECTING ONTARIO FROM URBAN WILDFIRES ACT, 2026

The

Schedule enacts the Protecting Ontario from Urban

Wildfires Act, 2026 . The Act provides that the Minister of the

Environment, Conservation and Parks shall, no later than 90 days after the day

the Act comes into force, establish an Urban Wildfires Advisory Committee. The

Committee shall assess the growing risk of urban wildfires, both in terms of

scale and expected timelines for when increased levels of risk will be reached.

The Committee shall also develop recommendations for preventing, suppressing

and recovering from urban wildfires and protecting the population from urban

wildfires. Within one year of being established, the Committee shall report its

assessment and recommendations to the Legislative Assembly. Based on the

Committee’s assessment and recommendations, the Minister shall, along with

other members of the Executive Council assigned by the Lieutenant Governor in

Council, develop plans, and any legislation necessary for implementing those plans,

related to protecting Ontario from urban wildfires and shall develop protocols

for co-operation between urban and forest wildfire management and suppression

forces.

Bill 130 2026

Act to enact the Ontario Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Act, 2026 and

the Protecting Ontario from Urban Wildfires Act, 2026 and to amend the

Occupational Health and Safety Act with respect to Heat Stress

CONTENTS

Contents

of this Act

Commencement

Short

title

Schedule 1

Occupational

Health and Safety Act

Schedule 2

Ontario

Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Act, 2026

Schedule 3

Protecting

Ontario from Urban Wildfires Act, 2026

His

Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the

Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Contents

of this Act

1 This Act consists of this section, sections 2 and 3 and

the Schedules to this Act.

Commencement

(1) Except as otherwise provided in this

section, this Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

(2) The

Schedules to this Act come into force as provided in each Schedule.

Short

title

3 The

short title of this Act is the Adapting to a

Hotter Ontario Act, 2026 .

SCHEDULE 1

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY ACT

Preamble

the changing climate increases air temperatures, workers are increasingly

exposed to conditions that threaten their health and even their lives. This is

true for educators, mechanics, agricultural employees, workers in manufacturing

and other workers throughout the workforce. Workers who were previously working

in conditions at the limit of their tolerance or who were working in conditions

that were relatively benign are now facing unprecedented challenges. They need

protection in a way not previously necessary, they need it consistently and

they need it now. The

Schedule sets the framework for the protection of these

workers throughout our whole society.

The Occupational Health and Safety Act is amended

by adding the following Part:

PART IV.1

HEAT STRESS

Worker

Heat Protection Standard

42.1

(1) The

Minister shall develop and implement a Worker Heat Protection Standard that

includes the following:

1. Requirements

to eliminate hazardous levels of heat stress through engineering controls such

as isolating or shielding employees from sources of heat, exhaust ventilation,

insulation of hot surfaces and climate control technologies, as well as

technology-based standards that encourage the development of such controls.

2. Requirements

to limit exposure to hazardous levels of heat stress by using the hierarchy of

controls, which may include the adjustment of work procedures, work schedules

or other work practices.

3. Requirements

to provide, at the employer’s expense, mandatory paid cool-down breaks, shade,

acclimatization for new and returning workers and personal protective

equipment, such as water-cooled garments, air-cooled garments, heat-reflective

clothing and cooling vests.

4. Requirements

for every employer to develop and implement a Heat Stress and Protection Policy

and Program, in consultation with and considering any recommendations from any

relevant health and safety representative or committee, and to review the

policy and program as often as necessary and no less than once every 12 months.

5. Requirements

for every employer to conduct a heat stress assessment as often as necessary

and no less often than the prescribed frequency, if any, to determine if a

worker is or may be exposed to thermal conditions likely to cause heat stress.

6. Requirements

for every employer to provide the relevant health and safety representative or

committee with the results of every heat stress assessment.

7. Requirements

for every employer to provide workers with access to cool drinking water or an

adequate alternative hydrating fluid close to every work area.

Implementation

(2) The

Worker Heat Protection Standard shall be implemented no later than 12 months

after the day this

section comes into force.

Same

(3) In

developing, implementing and updating the Worker Heat Protection Standard, the

Ministry shall consult with Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers and

the Ontario Federation of Labour.

Updates

(4) The

Worker Heat Protection Standard shall be updated as often as is necessary and

no less than once every 12 months.

Publication

(5) The

Worker Heat Protection Standard shall be published on a website of the

Government of Ontario.

Required

contents

(6) The

Worker Heat Protection Standard shall include requirements for training

approved by the Chief Prevention Officer for employees and supervisors in

topics reasonable or necessary for the purpose of protecting employees from

heat stress, including,

(

a) training

employees in signs and symptoms of heat-related illness, emergency response

procedures and their rights under this Part; and

(

b) training

supervisors in,

(

i) monitoring

and reporting heat conditions and environmental forecasts,

(ii) recognizing

signs of heat-related illness, and

(iii) protocols

for responding to likely heat-related illness.

Mandatory

training standard

42.2

(1) In

addition to the training required under

section 42.1, every employer shall

ensure the relevant health and safety representative and every committee member

receives training on heat stress in accordance with subsection (2) of this

section.

Contents

of training

(2) The

training referred to in subsection (1) shall include the following:

1. Occupational

health and safety law related to heat stress.

2. Prescribed

best practices for controlling exposure to heat stress.

3. Prescribed

learning objectives.

Approval

under s. 7.1 and 7.2

(3) The

training referred to in subsection (1) must be approved under

section 7.1 and

the training must be provided by a provider approved under

section 7.2.

Protection

of pay

42.3 An employee shall

receive compensation at the regular rate at which the employee is employed for

any period required under the Worker Heat Protection Standard, such as periods

for rest, breaks, medical removal protection and training.

Language

access

42.4 Any training, poster,

label, hazard alert or written plan required under the Worker Heat Protection

and prepared appropriately for the vocabulary, educational level and literacy

of the employees.

Maintaining

protection

42.5 Nothing in the Worker

Heat Protection Standard may reduce the protection afforded to employees by an

existing worker heat protection standard.

Report

to Legislature

42.6 For the first five

years after the Worker Heat Protection Standard is implemented, the Minister

shall annually present a report to the Legislature detailing,

(

a) illness

and mortality figures relating to heat stress; and

(

b) the

Ministry’s enforcement activities with respect to the Worker Heat Protection

Standard.

Commencement

This

Schedule comes into force 12 months after the day the Adapting to a Hotter Ontario Act, 2026 receives Royal

Assent.

SCHEDULE 2

ONTARIO CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION AND RESILIENCE ACT, 2026

CONTENTS

Preamble

Definitions

Appropriation

required

Strategic

action plan

Ontario

Climate Adaptation Fund

Ontario

Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Resource Centre

Ontario

Whole-of-Government Climate Adaptation Co-ordination Secretariat

Review

of strategic action plan

Contents

of strategic action plan

Flood

management and protection programs

Extreme

heat preparedness and resilience

Protection

from impacts of intense storms and extreme weather

Protection

from wildfires

Resilience

of infrastructure

Agriculture

and food security

Resilience

of the natural environment and ecosystems

Regulations

Commencement

Short

title

Preamble

Every day brings new reports of storms, floods, heat waves,

droughts and wildfires that are unprecedented in scale and intensity and that

are clearly attributable to climate change. Slower-onset effects are also

obvious: changing seasons and rainfall patterns, disappearing snowpack, warmer

lakes and rivers, more frequent freeze-thaw cycles, expanding pest populations

and worsening air quality. As the Provincial Climate Change Impact Assessment

shows, there are growing impacts in every region and sector that threaten our

health and security, our homes, our forests and wildlife, our electricity

network, our roads and our water supply.

While

our government must act decisively to reduce the carbon emissions that are the

root cause of these catastrophic events, it is also our responsibility to

protect our citizens and safeguard our communities and natural ecosystems from

the effects of these events now and in the future. We do this through

comprehensive, transparent and collaborative adaptation planning and implementation,

prioritizing the protection of our most vulnerable citizens and ecosystems.

Definitions

1 In this Act,

“adaptation”

means actions taken to understand and reduce the negative effects of climate

change on people, communities and nature; ( “adaptation” )

“Minister”

means the Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks or such other member

of the Executive Council as may be assigned the administration of this Act

under the Executive Council Act ; ( “ministre” )

“resilience”

means the capacity to prepare for, withstand and recover from disruptive

patterns and events. ( “résilience” )

Appropriation

required

2 The following provisions do not apply unless

money has been appropriated by the Legislature for the purpose of those

provisions:

Section

2. Subparagraph

1 vi of

section 9.

3. Paragraph

9 of

section 9.

4. Paragraph

4 of

section 10.

5. Paragraph

5 of

section 12.

6. Paragraph

6 of

section 14.

7. Paragraph

8 of

section 14.

8. Paragraph

6 of

section 15.

9. Paragraph

7 of

section 15.

Strategic

action plan

(1) On or before the day that is two

years after the day this

section comes into force, the Minister shall develop

and publish a strategic action plan that aims to ensure that Ontario’s

citizens, communities, infrastructure and natural environment are protected

from the risks and impacts of climate change, including floods, intense storms,

extreme heat, droughts and wildfires, as well as more slowly developing climate

hazards.

Same

(2) In

developing the strategic action plan, the Minister shall,

(

a) draw

on reports concerning climate change adaptation prepared for the Government of

Ontario, including the Provincial Climate Change Impact Assessment – Adaptation

Best Practices Report and reports prepared by the former Environmental

Commissioner of Ontario, the Auditor General and the Advisory Panel on Climate

Change; and

(

b) conduct

an open and intensive process of engagement and consultation with Indigenous

partners, municipal and regional governments, Conservation Authorities,

existing Ontario adaptation institutes and experts, public health agencies,

labour organizations and community-based and non-governmental organizations.

Ontario

Climate Adaptation Fund

(1) On or before the day that is two

years after the day this

section comes into force, the Minister shall establish

an arm’s length Ontario Climate Adaptation Fund to support the implementation

of adaptation and resilience activities included in the strategic action plan

developed and published under

section 3.

Functions

(2) The

Ontario Climate Adaptation Fund shall carry out the following functions:

1. The

Fund shall dispense public funds independently of the government and shall be

accountable to the Legislative Assembly for its operations and decisions.

2. The

Fund shall provide financial support to the strategic action plan through

direct financing of adaptation and resilience activities and through the

administrative and financial backing of innovative adaptation funding

initiatives such as green revolving funds.

Ontario

Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Resource Centre

(1) On or before the day that is one

year after the day this

section comes into force, the Minister shall establish

the Ontario Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Resource Centre to perform

the following functions:

1. Collaborate

with existing climate change adaptation institutes and resource centres in

Ontario to provide a comprehensive source of information on climate change

impacts, adaptation and resilience for provincial actors including government

ministries, municipalities, concerned sectoral and non-governmental

organizations and the public.

2. Create

one-window access to,

i. regional

and local climate and hydrological data, and

ii. monitoring

of regional climate change impacts and adaptation strategies for Ontario

communities and sectors.

3. Aid

in the practical application of research knowledge by providing synthesis,

interpretation and translation of scientific information for stakeholders and

the public.

4. Revive

the initiative for an Ontario Association of Adaptation Practitioners to

support collaboration among adaptation researchers and practitioners in

government, academia, existing adaptation institutes, conservation authorities,

municipalities and non-governmental organizations in the province.

5. Host

communities of practice that share information and strategies on adaptation

action in specific sectors, regions or communities.

6. Assist

governments and government departments with adaptation planning and solutions

by undertaking risk and opportunity assessments, conducting demonstration and

pilot projects and providing direct programming, such as the provision of

planning and delivery of services, to those communities with limited capacity

and resources to address climate risks on their own.

7. Assist

with capacity building, engagement and public awareness, including by

undertaking case studies, training, workshops, webinars and tutorials for

adaptation planning.

8. Advise

the Government of Ontario, municipal governments, business associations and

other associations on adaptation policies, regulations, investments and

incentives that can increase climate resilience.

9. Evaluate

and report annually to the Legislative Assembly on adaptation progress in the

province.

Annual

report

(2) Annual

reporting under paragraph 9 of subsection (1) shall occur no later than April

30 in each year.

Ontario

Whole-of-Government Climate Adaptation Co-ordination Secretariat

(1) The Lieutenant Governor in

Council shall establish a Whole-of-Government Climate Adaptation Co-ordination

Secretariat.

Functions

(2) The

Whole-of-Government Climate Adaptation Co-ordination Secretariat shall perform

the following functions:

1. Co-ordinating

and assisting with the implementation of science-aligned climate adaptation

plans for all government ministries and agencies, including formulating and

implementing policy, legislation and regulations as required.

2. Engaging

and consulting with the Ontario Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience

Centre, including by drawing on the climate adaptation expertise available from

the Centre.

3. Performing

research as needed to advance co-ordination of adaptation plans.

4. Reporting

annually to the Legislative Assembly on the progress of all government ministry

and agency adaptation plans.

5. Engaging

and consulting with relevant federal and municipal climate adaptation bodies.

6. Engaging

and consulting with external experts, including those from civil society and

Indigenous communities.

Annual

report

(3) Annual

reporting under paragraph 4 of subsection (2) shall occur no later than April

30 in each year.

Review

of strategic action plan

(1) On or before the day that is

four years after the day this

section comes into force, and every two years

thereafter, the Legislative Assembly shall review the strategic action plan

developed under

section 3 and make any changes to the plan that it considers

necessary to ensure that the plan best meets its stated aims.

Publication

of strategic action plan

(2) The

Minister shall ensure that the strategic action plan and any amended plan are

published on a website of the Government of Ontario.

Contents

of strategic action plan

8 The strategic action plan shall include the

following:

1. Acknowledgement

of key risks to Ontarians caused by the impacts of climate change, as

illustrated by the Provincial Climate Change Impact Assessment dated January

2. Identification

of communities and populations that are particularly vulnerable to the risks

acknowledged under paragraph 1, including Indigenous communities, seniors and

low-income communities.

3. Expansion

and enhancement of flood management and protection programs, including through

the measures set out in

section 9.

4. Improvement

of extreme heat preparedness and resilience, including through the measures set

out in

section 10.

5. Measures

to provide protection from the impacts of intense storms and extreme weather,

including the measures set out in

section 11.

6. Measures

to provide protection from wildfires, including the measures set out in

section

7. Measures

to increase the resilience of infrastructure such as housing, public buildings,

stormwater and wastewater systems and energy and transportation infrastructure,

including the measures set out in

section 13.

8. Measures

to increase the resilience of agriculture and enhancing food security,

including the measures set out in

section 14.

9. Measures

to strengthen the resilience of the natural environment and ecosystems,

including the measures set out in

section 15.

10. Establishment

of an Ontario Youth Climate Corps to give young Ontarians the opportunity to gain

hands-on experience in activities such as the following while receiving a fair

wage and assistance with the costs of post-secondary education:

i. Restoring

and enhancing Ontario’s natural landscape.

ii. Reducing

the risk of wildland fires.

iii. Providing

resilient home retrofits in vulnerable communities.

Flood

management and protection programs

(1) The measures referred to in

paragraph 3 of

section 8 are the following:

1. The

Minister reporting annually to the Legislative Assembly on the implementation

of commitments set out in Ontario’s flooding strategy, including,

i. the

work of the Multi-agency Flood Mapping Technical Team,

ii. the

work of the Urban Flooding Working Group,

iii. enhanced

flood forecasting and early warning,

iv. enhanced

emergency response activities,

v. disaster

recovery assistance, and

vi. funding

for flood risk reduction.

2. Prioritization

of the work of the intra-governmental working group on urban flooding and

requiring that the working group provide a report and strategy to the

Legislative Assembly no later than December 1 in the year following the year in

which this

section comes into force.

3. Expanding

support for conservation authorities, municipalities and Indigenous authorities

to prepare or update fluvial and pluvial flood risk maps, prioritizing areas of

the province where these maps are currently lacking and which are determined to

be at significant risk of flooding based on historical data and experience and

projections for the future.

4. Making

flood-risk maps and property-level flood risk information, including

information on historic and projected flood damage, available to the public on

a user-friendly online portal that can be accessed free of charge.

5. Implementing

recommendations from Ontario’s Wetland Conservation Strategy, including

programs to identify, protect, restore and create wetlands and to protect

shorelines and upland forests that reduce the impacts of intense precipitation

and help control flooding.

6. Completing

and issuing Ontario’s Low Impact Development Stormwater Management Guidance

Manual no later than December 1 in the year following the year in which this

section comes into force.

7. Adopting

nationally-recognized best practices in current CSA standards for flood

resilience and risk reduction, including CSA W204 (Flood Resilient Design of

New Residential Communities), CSA Z800 (Guidelines on Basement Flood Protection

and Risk Reduction), CSA W210 (Prioritization of Flood Risk in Existing

Communities), CSA W211 (Management Standard for Stormwater Systems), CSA W200

(Design of Bioretention Systems), CSA W201 (Construction of Bioretention

Systems) and CSA PLUS 4013:19 (Technical Guide: Development,

Interpretation and

Use of Rainfall Intensity-duration-frequency (IDF) Information: Guideline for

Canadian Water Resources Practitioners).

8. Providing

funding for municipal grants and incentives for homeowners to install flood

protection measures in areas at higher risk of flooding.

9. Working

with the federal government to designate areas at highest risk of flooding as

federal flood hazard areas in order to prioritize infrastructure and relocation

investments for homes at high risk of flooding.

10. Requiring

new developments or redevelopment projects to capture and infiltrate the first

1 or 1.5 inches of rain from any impervious portion of the development site.

11. Conducting

a province-wide information campaign on home flood protection, as recommended

by the Advisory Panel on Climate Change in its 2021 report.

12. Ensuring

flood forecasting and alert systems are in place across the province and that

they provide sufficient notice for the deployment of flood protection measures

in case of a flood emergency.

Annual

report

(2) Annual

reporting under paragraph 1 of subsection (1) shall occur no later than April

30 in each year.

Extreme

heat preparedness and resilience

10 The measures referred to in paragraph 4 of

section 8 are the following:

1. Conducting

extreme heat risk mapping to identify vulnerable areas and occupational populations

at elevated risk from extreme heat events.

2. Developing

and implementing a system for identifying and publishing timely data on

heat-related deaths and illnesses in the province, including those that occur

at work or as a result of work-related heat stress.

3. Requiring

that official plans incorporate strategies to assess and reduce urban heat

islands.

4. Providing

funding for municipalities to plan and implement urban cooling strategies,

including cool and green roofs, cool pavements and parking lots, green

corridors, shade structures and, in nature-deprived areas, expanded tree

canopies, green spaces and parks.

5. Assessing

the need for cooling in schools, childcare centres, hospitals and other publicly

funded institutions that accommodate large numbers of people indoors and

developing a strategy with clear targets and deadlines for reducing heat loads

and providing cooling during extreme heat events.

6. Setting

a maximum temperature requirement for rental units and employer-provided

housing of 26 degrees Celsius.

7. Providing

to the owners of rental properties that currently lack cooling systems grants

and incentives for retrofits, including heat pumps for individual units, that

reduce heat loads or provide cooling and allow compliance with the maximum

temperature requirement referred to in paragraph 6.

8. Conducting

an annual province-wide awareness campaign about the risks of extreme heat and ways

to stay safe, using messaging modes most likely to reach people at elevated

risk.

9. Passing

and enforcing regulations under the Occupational Health

and Safety Act to protect workers whose jobs expose them to hot

conditions, such as jobs in roofing, road paving, agriculture, commercial

kitchens, foundries and smelters, with proactive inspections, anti-reprisal

protections, accessible third-party complaint mechanisms and meaningful

penalties for non-compliance.

Protection

from impacts of intense storms and extreme weather

11 The measures referred to in paragraph 5 of

section 8 are the following:

1. Providing

support for investigations into the incidence and intensity of thunderstorms

and associated winds, tornadoes, blizzards, ice storms, freezing rain and hail

in Ontario as climate change increases, and for organizations which undertake

such investigations, such as the Northern Tornadoes and Northern Hail projects

and the Canadian Severe Storms Laboratory.

2. Assessing

and improving the system for issuing timely severe weather warnings and alerts

for Ontario in order to ensure that vulnerable populations receive alerts,

pre-evacuation notices and other important information.

Protection

from wildfires

12 The measures referred to in paragraph 6 of

section 8 are the following:

1. Assessing

Ontario’s increased susceptibility to wildland fires in light of recent fire

seasons and factors such as increasing pest infestations, identifying

communities and regions at particular risk and providing a report by the

Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry to the Legislative Assembly no later

than December 1 in the year following the year in which this

section comes into

force.

2. Amending

the Wildland Fire Management Act and the

regulations made under that Act to extend the fire season in recognition of wildland

fires occurring earlier than April 1 and ending later than October 31 each

year.

3. Expanding

to a year-round operational model for wildland fire management, with a

permanent workforce that is recruited, trained and paid at a level consistent

with the skills and knowledge required for the work and the dangers encountered

in performing the work.

4. Making

available standards for municipalities in Ontario’s fire region to use in

preparing Wildland Fire Management Plans, as required under the Wildland Fire Management Act , and requiring

municipalities to make these plans publicly available.

5. Assessing

and developing a program to improve the retention of experienced fire rangers

and crew leaders.

6. Funding

community-level FireSmart programs for communities in the wildland-urban

interface to reduce the risk and impacts of wildland fires.

7. Reinstating

environmental assessment and requiring climate change impact assessment of

logging and timber management to ensure that forestry industry practices do not

increase the risk of wildland fires.

8. Incentivizing,

in accordance with the regulations, more active forms of forest management,

including tree thinning, deadwood removal and burning practices, to promote

healthy and resilient forests that help reduce wildland fire fuels and prevent

wildland fire propagation.

9. Modifying

reforestation requirements after logging and guidelines to encourage

regenerative forestry and more diverse, resilient and ecologically functional

forest landscapes.

10. Developing

a strategy for remediation of areas of forest burned by wildland fires to

ensure their return to being productive ecosystems.

Resilience

of infrastructure

(1) The measures referred to in

paragraph 7 of

section 8 are the following:

1. Developing

guidelines on incorporating climate change into risk management and asset

planning, building on guides and standards already available in Canada,

including adaptation guides prepared by the National Research Council’s Climate-Resilient

Buildings and Core Public Infrastructure programs, CSA Standards for durability

in buildings, bridge design and wastewater treatment plants and the Canadian

Electricity Association’s climate adaptation guide.

2. Implementing

regulatory obligations on operators of critical infrastructure, including

energy and utilities, communications, transportation, water and stormwater, to

incorporate and disclose climate change risks in their strategic and

operational plans.

3. Requiring

that infrastructure planning and design factor in climate change scenarios for

all major repairs, replacements or new infrastructure in the province,

including,

i. electricity

generation, transmission and distribution,

ii. roads,

bridges and culverts,

iii. ports

infrastructure,

iv. stormwater

management, and

v. any

other category of infrastructure identified by the Minister.

4. Updating

the Building Code on an urgent basis to incorporate climate change resiliency

requirements that take more severe climate conditions and events into account

and ensure new buildings and buildings undergoing major retrofits can better

withstand severe winds, heavy rainfall, snow loads and wildland fires.

5. Requiring

annual reports from the Ontario Critical Infrastructure Assurance Program that

include,

i. the

makeup of sector working groups,

ii. assessment

of sector vulnerabilities related to climate change,

iii. assessment

of the risk of cascading failures due to climate-related events,

iv. recommendations

to decrease vulnerability to the impacts of climate change, and

v. progress

reports on the implementation of agreements and procedures to ensure the

resilience of Ontario’s infrastructure with respect to the impacts of climate

change.

6. Developing,

implementing and requiring adherence to procedures to recover from

infrastructure failures after extreme weather events.

Annual

report

(2) Annual

reporting under paragraph 5 of subsection (1) shall occur no later than April

30 in each year.

Agriculture

and food security

14 The measures referred to in paragraph 8 of

section 8 are the following:

1. Committing

to and prioritizing the protection of prime agricultural land from urban

expansion in land use planning and policy.

2. Reporting

annually on progress on implementing commitments in the Guelph Statement and

the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership.

3. Revising

Grow Ontario to incorporate the following:

i. Consideration

of climate impacts and adaptation in Ontario agriculture.

ii. Development

of a strategy to increase production and consumption of food grown and prepared

in Ontario by 30 per cent by 2032, in order to reduce dependence on imports,

and development of monitoring systems to track progress.

iii. Increased

support for smaller-scale producers and horticultural production for local

consumption, including investments in local markets, regional food hubs for

storage and local distribution and appropriately-scaled localized processing

facilities.

iv. The

goals of the Guelph Statement and Sustainable Canadian Agricultural

Partnership.

4. Developing

a strategy to identify, invest in and monitor the implementation of on-farm

climate change adaptation practices identified in Environmental Farm Plans, including

through the following:

i. Protection

of livestock from extreme heat and other adverse weather events.

ii. Diversification

of crops and the selection of varieties of crops that are drought-tolerant and

pest-resistant.

iii. Conversion

of high-risk field areas to perennial crops, pasture or conservation buffers.

iv. Protection

of existing, and creation of new,

A. windbreaks,

B. buffer

strips, and

C. natural

landscape elements such as wetlands, riparian buffers and forested areas.

v. Protection

of infrastructure in flood-prone areas.

5. Expanding

Environmental Farm Plans to include climate change-based risk assessment

support.

6. Reactivating

and updating Ontario’s Agricultural Soil Health and Conservation Strategy and

Soil Health Working Group to guide collaborative soil health research,

investments and activities to ensure the climate resilience of agricultural

soils in the province and to provide funding for farmer-led soil health and

conservation organizations.

7. Supporting

research into crop varieties resilient to extreme heat and drought, occasional

flooding and pests that are increasingly present in Ontario as effects of

climate change increase.

8. Incentivizing

the development and expansion of regional and on-farm water storage, expansion

of irrigation systems and capacity, expansion of pumping capacity to help with

increasing incidence of drought and conversion of tile drainage systems to

control tile drainage and maintain soil moisture in dry periods.

9. Reviving

the Water Resource Adaptation and Management Initiative in order to fund

demonstration and pilot projects to help Ontario farmers better prepare for

droughts and adapt their water use practices to deal with the growing impacts

of climate change.

10. Investigating

the potential for agriculture-specific local weather forecasting to aid in

day-to-day field activity planning, preparing for severe weather and, with

medium-term and longer-term forecasts, to help with other planning.

Resilience

of the natural environment and ecosystems

15 The measures referred to in paragraph 9 of

section 8 are the following:

1. Providing

an action plan for the implementation of Naturally Resilient – MNRF’s Natural

Resource Climate Adaptation Strategy (2017-2021).

2. Investing

in improved technology to identify and map Ontario’s natural assets and prepare

a public inventory and assessment of the current condition of Ontario’s natural

infrastructure.

3. Developing

a program to maintain, promote and enhance ecosystem connectivity and for the

protection and management of climate refugia for species threatened by climate

change.

4. Providing

a plan to conserve peatlands and other carbon-dense ecosystems as globally

important ecosystems.

5. Providing

guidance and resources for conservation authorities and municipalities to,

i. inventory

natural assets such as wetlands, forests, meadows, parks, soils, urban trees

and naturalized stormwater ponds,

ii. assess

the condition of these natural assets, and

iii. implement

a plan to increase and integrate such assets into infrastructure asset

management.

6. Reinstating

provincial funding for the planting of native trees, shrubs and other vegetation

on public and private lands in southern and central Ontario, with a focus on

lowland and wetland sites and along roadsides in southern Ontario.

7. Restoring

the mandate, powers and watershed-based structure of Ontario’s Conservation

Authorities, as they existed before 2019, and providing funding adequate to

their core mandate of,

i. ensuring

the conservation, restoration and responsible management of Ontario’s water,

land and natural habitats,

ii. safeguarding

our watersheds,

iii. protecting

people and property from flooding and other natural hazards, and

iv. protecting

our drinking water.

Regulations

16 The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make

regulations,

(

a) defining

terms for the purposes of paragraph 8 of

section 12;

(

b) establishing

an incentivization scheme for the purposes of paragraph 8 of

section 12.

Commencement

17 The Act set out in this

Schedule comes into

force on the day the Adapting to a Hotter Ontario Act,

2026 receives Royal Assent.

Short

title

18 The

short title of the Act set out in this

Schedule is the Ontario Climate Change Adaptation and

Resilience Act, 2026 .

SCHEDULE 3

PROTECTING ONTARIO FROM URBAN WILDFIRES ACT, 2026

Preamble

Major

fires in Los Angeles, Jasper and Fort McMurray, a near miss in London, England

and wildfires in New York City parks have all made it clear that, in a world

that is getting hotter at an increasing rate, we risk confronting urban

wildfires in Ontario in a way not seen in the past century. Our plans for

responding to potential urban wildfires should use a 2 degree Celsius increase

in average global temperatures above pre-industrial temperatures within the

next 15 years as the baseline for understanding the new conditions we will

face.

Urban

Wildfires Advisory Committee

(1) The

Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks shall, no later than 90

days after the day this

section comes into force, establish an Urban Wildfires

Advisory Committee.

Composition

(2) The

Urban Wildfires Advisory Committee shall be composed of members appointed by

the Minister in accordance with subsection (3).

Same

(3) The

Minister shall ensure that the Urban Wildfires Advisory Committee includes

members of the following groups:

1. Climate

scientists.

2. Wildland

fire scientists.

3. Forest

hydrologists.

4. The

Office of the Fire Marshal.

5. Firefighter

management and unions representing firefighters.

6. Environmental

non-governmental organizations.

7. Authorities

responsible for emergency management and civil protection.

8. Conservation

Authorities.

9. Specialists

in the fields of disaster prevention and emergency management and recovery.

10. Representatives

of municipal umbrella organizations, such as the Association of Municipalities

of Ontario, the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association and the Federation

of Northern Ontario Municipalities.

11. First

Nations representatives who can bring First Nations fire management knowledge

and fire evacuation experience.

Remuneration

and expenses

(4) The

Lieutenant Governor in Council may determine the remuneration and expenses of

any person appointed under subsection (2).

Appropriation

required

(5) Subsection

(4) does not apply unless money has been appropriated by the Legislature for

the purpose of that subsection.

Functions

(1) The

Urban Wildfires Advisory Committee shall,

(

a) assess

the growing risk of urban wildfires, both in terms of scale and expected

timelines for when increased levels of risk will be reached; and

(

b) develop

recommendations for preventing, suppressing and recovering from urban wildfires

and protecting the population from urban wildfires.

Report

(2) On

or before the day that is one year after the day the Urban Wildfires Advisory

Committee is established, the Committee shall report its assessment and

recommendations to the Legislative Assembly.

Plans

(1) Based

on the assessment and recommendations reported under subsection 2 (2), the

Minister shall, on or before the day that is one year after the day the

assessment and recommendations are reported under subsection 2 (2), along with

other members of the Executive Council assigned by the Lieutenant Governor in

Council, develop plans, and any legislation necessary for implementing those

plans, that do the following:

1. Include

any necessary changes to the following to allow for the effective prevention,

suppression and recovery from urban wildfires and effective protection of the

population from urban wildfires:

i. Regulations,

including the Building Code and zoning and urban planning regulations.

ii. Legislation,

including the City of Toronto Act, 2006 , the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act , the Fire Protection and Prevention Act, 1997 , the Municipal Act, 2001 and the Wildland

Fire Management Act.

iii. Firefighting

infrastructure.

iv. Emergency

relief facilities and protocols for evacuation.

v. Requirements

for the updating of municipal emergency response plans.

vi. Standard

assessments of fire risk from forest types and from the wildland-urban

interface.

2. Ensure

the development of urban firefighting resources under the direction of the

Government of Ontario to provide assistance to and training for existing urban

firefighters.

3. Undertake

the development of educational programs for urban dwellers in large and small

municipalities regarding urban wildfire prevention and steps that individuals

can take to reduce the risk they face.

Report

re costs

(2) The

Minister shall report to the Legislative Assembly, no later than December 1 in

the year following the year in which this

section comes into force, the

Minister’s opinion regarding the amount of costs that should be covered by the

Government of Ontario to deliver these programs and to assist municipalities in

delivering these programs.

Protocols

(3) The

Minister, along with other members of the Executive Council referred to in

subsection (1), shall develop protocols for co-operation between urban and

forest wildfire management and suppression forces.

Commencement

The Act set out in this

Schedule comes into force on the day the Adapting to a Hotter Ontario Act, 2026 receives Royal

Assent.

Short

title

The

short title of the Act set out in this

Schedule is the Protecting Ontario from Urban Wildfires Act, 2026 .

Date Bill stage Event Outcome Committee

May 28, 2026

First Reading

Ordered for Second Reading

May 28, 2026

First Reading

Vote

Carried

First Reading

May 28, 2026

Carried

Ordered for Second Reading