Purpose: To provide for the protection, conservation and wise management of the environment. To establish a process for evaluating the impact of public undertakings on the environment (e.g. landfills, roads).

Applicability to Agriculture: In general, it does not apply to day-to-day farm operations, but provides for the agricultural sector’s input into public projects.

Administering Agency: Ministry of the Environment

Purpose: To protect the rights of the people of Ontario to a healthy and sustainable environment by providing them with the right to become involved in decisions that affect the environment, and by bringing accountability and transparency to ministry decision-making.

Applicability to Agriculture: Indirectly it affects the agricultural sector, but is not a regulatory act for the industry.

Administering Agency: Ministry of the Environment, Environmental Commissioner’s Office, prescribed ministries.

Purpose: To provide for protection and conservation of the natural environment. The environment is defined as air, land, water or any combination thereof in the province of Ontario. The act prohibits the discharge of contaminants that are likely to harm the natural environment.

Applicability to Agriculture:

1. Spills are defined as a discharge into the natural environment from or out of a structure, vehicle or other container, that is abnormal in quantity or quality in light of all the circumstances of the discharge. MOE must be notified immediately at 1-800-268-6060 following an occurrence. The owner and person in charge of the material at the time are required to contain, cleanup and dispose of the material in a timely manner to the satisfaction of the MOE. All farming operations with Nutrient Management Strategies and Plans are required to have a contingency plan in place for handling spills related to manure or other prescribed materials. Note that a discharge is not considered to be a spill if it is the result of a "normal farm practice".

2. Waste disposal/recycling: spreading of non-agricultural waste materials (e.g. biosolids) on agricultural land is regulated by the Environmental Protection Act, and requires a Certificate of Approval (See Guidelines for Utilization of Biosolids and Other Wastes on Agricultural Land, in the following section). If applied to agricultural land as a nutrient to improve the growing of agricultural crops, they are non-agricultural source materials and are regulated by the Nutrient Management Act. Manure spreading does not require a Certificate of Approval, but the act does set out provisions for prosecution of instances of pollution (i.e. as a result of a spill).

3. Septic systems: approval of small (e.g. household) septic systems (up to 10,000 litres capacity serving one lot) has been delegated to the municipalities; MOE is responsible for the approval of large septic systems.

Administering Agency: Ministry of the Environment (MOE); municipalities, boards of health or conservation authorities for septic systems; this act is co-administered with the Nutrient Management Act and the Pesticides Act (below).

Permits Required: Certificates of Approval are required for spreading non-agricultural waste materials on agricultural land. Building permits are required for the installation of septic tank systems.

Purpose: To provide for the organization and operation of municipalities in Ontario; control the types of by-laws that municipalities can adopt; regulate health, safety and other matters.

Applicability to Agriculture: The agricultural industry is subject to municipal by-laws unless they are superseded by provincial acts (e.g. Nutrient Management Act or the Farming and Food Production Protection Act). This act combines several former acts including, for example, the Topsoil Preservation Act (Section 142 allows for bylaws for the prohibition or regulation of topsoil removal, dumping of fill) and the Trees Act (Sections 96 and 97 allow jurisdiction over drainage and flood control, Section 135 regulates destruction of woodlands). The act also includes pollution issues.

Administering Agency: Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, municipalities.

Related legislation: Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1990.

Purpose: To provide for the management of pits, quarries and excavation, and to require the rehabilitation of land from which aggregate has been excavated.

Applicability to Agriculture: Quarries, pits and excavations on private land are regulated by this act.

Administering Agency: Ministry of Natural Resources.

Permits Required: Licences are required to remove material from a pit or quarry on private land; rehabilitation is required as a condition of licensing.

Purpose: To create programs such as the Conservation Land Tax Incentive Program to encourage landowners to protect provincially significant features such as wetlands.

Applicability to Agriculture: Provides payment for the conservation of certain types of lands including Areas of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSI), wetlands, conservation authority land and certain land owned by non-profit organizations.

Administering Agency: Ministry of Natural Resources.

Purpose: to facilitate the use of biosolids and other waste materials on agricultural land while protecting the environment, human and animal health, food quality and the productivity of the soil. These guidelines are regulated by the Environmental Protection Act (above).

Applicability to Agriculture: Outlines the criteria, requirements and standards that must be met in order to apply biosolids or other non-agricultural waste material on agricultural land. These guidelines are periodically revised; contact the nearest District or Area office of the Ministry of the Environment to obtain the most recent version of this publication, or obtain it on-line.

Administering Agency: OMAFRA and Ministry of the Environment.

Permits Required: Certificate of Approval for the site must be obtained from the Ministry of the Environment.

Purpose: To assist farmers in properly managing on-farm nutrients, minimize environmental risks from agricultural operations, and safeguard public health.

Applicability to Agriculture: Based on the amount of nutrients (manure or other prescribed material) generated by an operation, farmers are required to submit nutrient management strategies or plans (NMS/P) which describe the quantity, storage and application of the nutrients, standards for land application, outdoor confinement areas, and siting and construction described. This act also applies to the management of materials that are not generated by a farm operation, and are applied to land as a nutrient. Note that farmers who have a NMS/P may still be subject to the requirements of the Environmental Protection Act and the Ontario Water Resources Act.

Administering Agency: OMAFRA and Ministry of the Environment.

Permits Required: NMS/P required to be submitted to OMAFRA for new, expanding, or existing farms based on nutrient units produced; certificates or licences are required for nutrient management strategy/plan preparation, brokers, application businesses and technicians.

Purpose: To facilitate the use of waste fruits and vegetables on agricultural land while protecting the environment, human and animal health, food quality and the productivity of the soil.

Applicability to Agriculture: Outlines the criteria governing the use of waste fruits and vegetables as soil conditioning agents on agricultural land.

Administering Agency: OMAFRA and Ministry of the Environment.

Permits Required: Check with your local branch of the Ministry of the Environment; Certificates of Approval may be required, depending on the specific operation.

Purpose: To ensure tile drainage systems installed on agricultural land are properly designed and accurately installed.

Applicability to Agriculture: Businesses, tile drainage machines and machine operators must be licensed to install private tile drainage systems on agricultural land. Machine operators are required to successfully complete drainage courses. Does not apply to agricultural landowners installing tile drainage on their own land using their own equipment.

Administering Agency: OMAFRA.

Purpose: To provide for the establishment of conservation authorities (CA) responsible for: conservation, restoration, development and management of natural resources other than gas, oil, coal and minerals within the jurisdiction of the CA; the prevention of floods, erosion and pollution by controlling the flow of surface waters; the regulation of building construction below the regional flood level and removal of fill; the dumping of fill; acquisition, making and management of agreements within the jurisdiction required for the purpose of accomplishing the above objectives.

Applicability to Agriculture: regulations may be in place controlling construction which takes place within designated fill lines, flooding areas, etc, and water course alteration.

Administering Agency: Conservation Authorities.

Permits Required: permits from the CA required for any work that takes place within designated fill lines or flood areas, or which alters or interferes in any way with the existing channel of a watercourse.

Purpose: To provide landowners with a procedure to resolve drainage problems through the establishment of communal drainage systems, called municipal drains. Also provides for the subsequent improvement, repair and maintenance of municipal drains by the local municipality.

Applicability to Agriculture: Landowners may petition their local municipality for the construction of a municipal drain. The municipality appoints an engineer to prepare a report that includes plans, profiles and specifications of the drain and assessment schedules. After a public input process, the report is adopted by municipal bylaw, the drain is constructed and costs are assessed to the landowners. A conservation authority, the Ministry of Natural Resources or a municipality may request an environmental appraisal. Future maintenance and repair of municipal drains is a municipal responsibility with costs charged to the landowners.

Administering Agency: Municipalities, OMAFRA.

Permits Required: Activities affecting a municipal drain must be authorized by the local municipality.

Purpose: To ensure flow and water level characteristics of lakes and rivers are not altered to the point of placing other water users at a disadvantage.

Applicability to Agriculture: Any work forwarding, holding back or diverting water must receive prior approval.

Administering Agency: Ministry of Natural Resources.

Permits Required: approvals required for any construction, alteration or deposition in a lake, river or shoreline.

Purpose: To protect the supply and purity of Ontario’s surface and ground waters.

Applicability to Agriculture: 1. Prohibits discharge or deposit of any material into any water body or watercourse that may impair water quality. 2. Prohibits removal of more than 50,000 litres of water per day from wells or a surface water source without a permit. 3. Permits are not required for water taking for domestic, livestock, or fire fighting purposes. 4. If water leakage or flow from any well, diversion or excavation interferes with public or private interests, MOE may require the person responsible to stop or mitigate the problem.

Administering Agency: Ministry of the Environment.

Permits Required: Certificates of approval required for discharge of a material to land or surface water; permits required for water takings of more than 50,000 litres per day (approximately ½ acre irrigated with 1 in. of water); permits required for well construction; licences required for well contractors and technicians.

Purpose: To provide financial assistance to agricultural landowners for the installation of tile drainage works on private agricultural land.

Applicability to Agriculture: Agricultural landowners may receive a low interest tile loan from their local municipality through the provincial government. Loan repayments are treated in the same manner as property taxes.

Administering Agency: municipalities and the Ministry of Finance.

Purpose: To provide for the conservation and preservation of fish and fish habitat. Provides that no person shall carry on any work or undertaking that results in the harmful alteration, disruption or destruction of fish or fish habitat.

Applicability to Agriculture: prohibits the discharge of pollutants near or in water that would harm fish or fish habitat; prohibits stream alterations that have the potential to harm or disturb fish habitat.

Administering Agency: Fisheries and Oceans Canada (habitat protection) and Environment Canada (pollution prevention).

Permits Required: Permits and approvals required for any alterations that may affect fish or fish habitat.

Purpose: To provide management, perpetuation and rehabilitation of fish and wildlife.

Applicability to Agriculture: Allows for hunting by farmers on their own land while protecting farmlands from damage from unauthorized hunters. The act covers all general hunting regulations and restrictions.

Administering Agency: Ministry of Natural Resources, municipalities.

Permits Required: Farmers require licences to hunt white-tailed deer, moose, caribou, elk, black bear and wild turkey on their land. Some municipal restrictions may be in effect regarding licences for other game.

Purpose: To protect migratory birds and nests.

Applicability to Agriculture: Protects migratory birds and nests, but makes provision for their removal where it is deemed necessary to do so to avoid injury to agricultural interests.

Administering Agency: Environment Canada.

Permits Required: Permits are required to remove or eliminate migratory birds or nests.

Related Legislation: Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act, 1992 (Environment Canada).

Purpose: To protect farmers from nuisance complaints about odour, noise, dust, flies, light, smoke and vibration, which result from normal farm practices; also to protect farmers against restrictive municipal by-laws that constrain normal farm practices.

Applicability to Agriculture: Complainant can ask Normal Farm Practices Protection Board to rule on a complaint. Note that a practice, which is not consistent with standards established in the Nutrient Management Regulation, is not deemed a normal farm practice.

Administering Agency: OMAFRA.

Purpose: A guide published by OMAFRA to provide information on the importance of agricultural land use and to provide advice on reducing land use conflicts through appropriate farm practices and planning.

Applicability to Agriculture: The publication advises the rural community on the role of land use planning, and how conflicts with neighbours and environmental impacts can be avoided or reduced through appropriate farm practices and education of farm and non-farm residents. The guide provides a general understanding of agricultural practices and procedures. The main themes discussed include land use planning for agricultural land, agriculture and the environment, nutrient management, and nuisance issues.

Administering Agency: Municipalities.

Purpose: To provide minimum distance separation between new development and existing livestock facilities (MDS I), and/or between new or expanding livestock facilities and existing or approved development (MDS II).

Applicability to Agriculture: Used to determine the proper siting of livestock facilities away from incompatible uses so as to reduce the potential for odour complaints, and to site new incompatible uses away from existing livestock facilities for the same reason.

Administering Agency: Municipalities.

Purpose: To provide policy direction for land use matters in the Niagara Escarpment region.

Applicability to Agriculture: Maintenance of the Niagara Escarpment and land in its vicinity substantially as a continuous natural environment, by means compatible with farming and forestry.

Administering Agency: Niagara Escarpment Commission (NEC) as part of Ministry of Natural Resources.

Purpose: To provide a legislative framework for land use planning; establish Provincial Policy Statements setting provincial policy for the planning of natural resources and growth management; authorize municipalities to establish Official Plans, zoning by-laws, site plan control, interim control by-laws; temporary use by-laws, subdivision control.

Applicability to Agriculture: Farm buildings must meet local municipal setback distances and bylaws, protection of wetland areas.

Administering Agency: Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, municipalities.

Permits Required: Requirements must be met for the issuing of a local building permit.

Purpose: To assist beekeepers in maintaining a healthy honeybee population. Honeybees can carry disease organisms over great distances, so beekeepers are directly affected by a neighbour’s management. Under the Bees Act, third party bee inspectors can check honeybees for bee diseases and can give orders to destroy infected beehives. This inspection program assists in keeping beekeeping viable in Ontario.

Applicability to Agriculture: There is $161,000,000 of crops produced in Ontario that depend on honeybees for pollination. Having a healthy bee population, keeps these crops from being put at risk.

Administering Agency: OMAFRA Crop Technology Branch — Apiculture Program.

Purpose: To regulate the content, grading, and registration of livestock feeds in Canada.

Applicability to Agriculture: Ensures quality control of livestock feed (composition and nutrient content). All products must be properly labelled. Allows for inspection and analysis of suspect materials.

Administering Agency: Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

Permits Required: Certification of CFIA inspectors.

Purpose: 1) To establish lists of reportable diseases of significant risk to animal and/or human health, and control procedures in the event of an outbreak. 2) Regulates importation and feeding of organic waste products to livestock. 3) Regulates care, handling and disposition of animals.

Applicability to Agriculture: Specifies notification of reportable diseases or poisons to the nearest veterinary inspector and subsequent procedures; regulates the importation of animal-based feeds.

Administering Agency: CFIA/ Health Canada (HC)

Permits Required: For the importation and movement of animals and animal products.

Purpose: 1) To license people dealing in livestock and livestock products. 2) To provide protection for producers of livestock and livestock products. 3) To provide for the grading of eggs and wool. 4) To protect the safety of the consumers of livestock and livestock products.

Applicability to Agriculture: Issuing licences to dealers of livestock and livestock products, appointing inspectors, and creating standards for all aspects of livestock and livestock marketing.

Administering Agency: OMAFRA.

Permits Required: Licences for dealers.

Purpose: To regulate the sale of over-the-counter livestock medicines in Ontario through licensed outlets.

Applicability to Agriculture: Makes livestock drugs available directly to farmers, designates drugs or classes of drugs available under this act, provides for licences and specifies record keeping for retailers, provides for inspectors to ensure proper sales and handling of over-the-counter drugs.

Administering Agency: OMAFRA

Permits Required: Licences for retailers.

Purpose: To compensate producers of eligible livestock or poultry species killed or injured by wolves or coyotes and for damage to honey bee colonies or hive equipment caused by bears. The Bear Damage to Livestock Program provides compensation for eligible livestock killed or injured by bears.

Applicability to Agriculture: Provides compensation to livestock producers for losses of cattle, horses, sheep, goats, swine, poultry, rabbits, certain fur bearing animals and honeybee colonies.

Administering Agency: Local Municipalities and OMAFRA.

Purpose: To stimulate, increase and improve the production of milk within Ontario; to provide for the control and regulation of the production and marketing within Ontario of milk, cream, or cheese, to provide for the control and regulation of the quality of milk and milk products within Ontario.

Applicability to Agriculture: Provides for quality control of milk and milk products, regulates and gives authority to marketing boards, provides for licensing of producers and dairy product manufacturers, regulates conditions and functioning of dairy barns and dairies.

Administering Agency: On-farm inspections of cow milk and cream production by Dairy Farmers of Ontario on behalf of OMAF; OMAFRA inspects goat producers.

Permits Required: Quotas and licences for production, certification within the dairy industry.

Purpose: To establish the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA) and affiliated humane societies; to authorize the OSPCA to investigate cases of animal cruelty in Ontario.

Applicability to Agriculture: Provides for inspectors and the investigation of farm animal-related issues of cruelty, neglect, or poor management that has an adverse effect on farm animals; establishes standards for cat or dog breeders.

Administering Agency: OSPCA (legislative authority); government authority with Solicitor General.

Related Legislation: Innkeepers Act, 1990 (as it relates to the boarding of Animals).

Purpose: To protect the farmer and the general public against potential health hazards and misrepresentation in marketing, as well as ensuring a fair marketplace, by regulating the content, grading, and registration of fertilizers in Canada.

Applicability to Agriculture: To ensure the safety, efficacy, and proper labelling of all fertilizers and supplements offered for sale in Canada. Allows for the inspection and analysis of fertilizer and supplement products regulated under the Fertilizers Act.

Administering Agency: Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

Permits Required: Certification of CFIA inspectors.

Purpose: To ensure Canadians have access to sufficient quantities of quality seed and to facilitate domestic and international trade in seed.

Applicability to Agriculture: To ensure that seed meets minimum standards and is accurately represented when imported or sold. Allows for the inspection and analysis of seed under the Seeds Act.

Administering Agency: Canadian Food Inspection agency (CFIA).

Permits Required: Varieties of most agricultural field crops require registration under the Seeds Act before they may be imported or sold in Canada. Pedigreed seed can be processed, sampled, tested and labelled only by establishments, laboratories and individuals that have been registered, accredited or licensed to do so.

Purpose: to ensure control of, or eradicate, specific regulated pests listed in the act that exist in Ontario, and could not be eradicated under a federal program (below).

Applicability to Agriculture: To prevent the spread of plant diseases caused by an insect, virus, fungus, bacterium or other organism. The act requires the treatment or destruction of infected plants, disinfection of contaminated containers, buildings, and vehicles, and the possible prohibition of growing certain plants for a period of time in contaminated soils.

Administering Agency: OMAFRA.

Purpose: To protect plant life and the agricultural sector by preventing the importation, exportation and spread of pests.

Applicability to Agriculture: Outlines appropriate pest control or eradication practices to prevent the spread, import or export of plant pests. This includes the duty to notify OMAFRA if a new pest (plant, insect, fungus or other) is present in a crop; a prohibition of the intentional movement, possession or improper disposal of a pest into, or out of Canada; and the inspection practices that may be used to detect a suspected pest. An area or substance suspected of an infestation can be put into quarantine, or seized under this act.

Administering Agency: Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

Permits Required: Certification of CFIA inspectors.

Purpose: To protect agricultural and horticultural production from the negative impacts of noxious weeds.

Applicability to Agriculture: Landowners must destroy noxious weeds on their property, and remove noxious weed seeds from machinery to avoid spread; operators of grain elevators or grain processing plants must destroy weed seeds in a manner that will prevent growth or spread.

Administering Agency: OMAF, enforced by municipalities.

Related Legislation: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act, 1992 (Environment Canada).

Purpose: To prescribe methods and timelines for the disposal of dead livestock, including horses, goats, sheep, swine and cattle.

Applicability to Agriculture: Owner is required to dispose of a dead animal within 48 hr of its death by either burying it with a covering of at least 0.6 m of earth, by composting the carcasses under at least 0.6 m of organic dry matter in a properly designed composter, by having it removed by a licenced dead animal collector, or by delivering it to a laboratory for post mortem investigation or loss adjustment.

Administering Agency: OMAFRA.

Permits Required: Dead animal collectors, receiving and rendering plants must be licensed.

Purpose: To ensure safe use, management and storage of pesticides.

Applicability to Agriculture: Prohibits use of pesticides in such a manner as to cause, or likely cause, damage to the quality of the environment, greater than that which would necessarily result from the proper use of the pesticide; requires safe and proper pesticide storage facilities.

Administering Agency: Ministry of the Environment, Ridgetown College administers courses; this act is co-administered with the Nutrient Management Act and the Environmental Protection Act.

Permits Required: Certification through Grower Pesticide Safety Course; re-certification every 5 years

Related Legislation: Pest Control Products Act, 1985 (Federal).

Purpose: Ensures the protection of humans from hazards associated with buildings and structures, and establishes associated services.

Applicability to Agriculture: Applies to the construction or alteration of all farm structures including manure storage and transfer facilities.

Administering Agency: Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, municipalities.

Purpose: To address the recovery of unpaid wages.

Applicability to Agriculture: Wage payment for on-farm labourers.

Administering Agency: Ministry of Labour.

Purpose: To establish minimum standards for employment.

Applicability to Agriculture: Some exceptions apply to farm labourers due to the nature and perishability of farm products and their susceptibility to weather.

Administering Agency: Ministry of Labour.

Purpose: To regulate the sale of farm machinery and to promote farm machinery safety.

Applicability to Agriculture: Establishes machinery safety standards and requirements and minimum warranties; provides for the return of defective machinery and the supply of repair parts; process for the resolution of disputes.

Administering Agency: OMAFRA.

Permits Required: dealers and distributors are required to be registered.

Purpose: Provides for the quality and safety of food, agricultural or aquatic commodities or agricultural inputs, the management of food risks, and the control and regulation of related activities.

Applicability to Agriculture: The act applies to all aspects of the preparation of food, growing and harvesting of crops, raising, slaughtering and other preparation of animals for meat, and the handling and use of agricultural inputs.

Administering Agency: OMAFRA.

Purpose: To ensure safe movement of vehicles on roadways.

Applicability to Agriculture: Slow moving vehicle signs must be attached to the rear of a slow moving vehicle or a trailer or other device being towed by that vehicle. The act also prescribes conditions for the movement of over-sized farm vehicles.

Administering Agency: Ontario Ministry of Transportation.

Permits Required: Permits are not required for farm implements in transit between farms or fields, or for maintenance or repair purposes.

Purpose: To enhance public safety in Ontario through efficient administration of technical standards. Replaces seven acts including: Boilers and Pressure Vessels Act, Elevating Devices Act, Energy Act, Gasoline Handling Act, and the Operating Engineers Act.

Applicability to Agriculture: Ensures that: heating (steam, hot water) and refrigeration systems are approved for use in Ontario and only appropriately licensed/trained people install and maintain them; elevators and similar devices are approved, functional and safe; handling, transmission, and storage of hydrocarbon fuels primarily used for heat generation (propane, natural gas, fuel oil) is safe; contractors, equipment, storages, transporters, transmission lines, etc. for hydrocarbon fuels (gasoline, diesel, used oil etc.) are licensed and that those who operate and work on these types of facilities are qualified. (See also the Canadian Standards Association (CSA).)

Administering Agency: Technical Standards and Safety Authority (TSSA) as contracted by MCCR.

Permits Required: Certificates, licences or registration required for contractors, transporters.

Purpose: To establish priority for recovery of wages owed to employees from bankrupt employers.

Applicability to Agriculture: In the event of farm bankruptcy, the farm labourers have priority for their wages over ordinary or general creditors. Labourers may qualify for no more than three months wages.

Administering Agency: Ministry of Labour.

Purpose: To provide workplace injury insurance for workers and employers. Also, to promote health and safety in workplaces and to prevent or reduce the occurrence of workplace injuries and occupational diseases.

Applicability to Agriculture: Injured workers receive compensation for lost work time due to injury. Employers receive liability coverage. Provides for inspections by the Board.

Administering Agency: Workplace Safety & insurance Board (WSIB), Farm Safety Assoc. (FSA), Ministry of Labour

Related Legislation: Meat Inspection Act, 1990 (Ontario), Meat Inspection Act, 1985 (Federal), Food and Drugs Act, 1985 (Federal)