In just over a month, Doug Ford’s Conservative government has rammed through perhaps its most serious attack on environmental stewardship, democratic norms and Indigenous rights. The Protect Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act, 2025, framed as an “economic growth” policy, continues Premier Ford’s pattern of provincial overreach, sidelining science and bypassing accountability in favour of deregulation and corporate interests.
Environmental destruction on a scale worse than the Greenbelt scandal
Bill 5 repeals Ontario’s Endangered Species Act (ESA), 2007, which was once the gold standard in Canada for biodiversity protection. Before it was weakened by regulatory changes, the ESA mandated science-based recovery plans and required permits for projects impacting critical habitats. Its replacement, the “Species Conservation Act,” further dismantles these safeguards, eliminating the requirement for recovery strategies for endangered and threatened species, and allowing the removal of species from the species-at-risk list based on political ideology, rather than evidence.
The act also introduces a series of proposals that lay the groundwork for habitat destruction on a scale much larger than the Greenbelt.
First, it substitutes the definition of ‘habitat’ to one that includes only the immediate nest or den area of a species, leaving species that are already declining due to habitat loss at greater risk, and opening a loophole for unregulated development in previously protected areas.
Second, the Act introduces an online registration system, allowing developers to begin immediately without any expert review or regulatory oversight, regardless of whether the build presents a serious threat to habitat destruction.
Finally, the new Act grants cabinet unchecked power to decide which species receive protection, effectively politicizing conservation efforts.
Environmental experts are already warning that this shift “virtually ensures continued decline” for at-risk species, like the endangered redside dace and spotted turtle. Ultimately, the Ford government is using the US trade war as a smokescreen to cover up the ecological damage this Act will likely cause.
Democratic backsliding
A subsection of the Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, titled the Special Economic Zones Act, empowers Ford’s cabinet to take troubling actions. The Act enables the cabinet to completely exempt projects from provincial and municipal laws, creating deregulated corporate “safe zones” that are shielded from any environmental, labour or safety standards. Under the Act, the cabinet can create these “safe zones” on any land, for any reason, with no oversight – opening up the likelihood of corruption allegations and corporate handouts.
Even more concerning, the Act bans any legal challenge to these “safe zones” in court, effectively silencing any legal attempts to halt these unregulated “safe zones.” This gross abuse of authority, as we’ve seen before with the Greenbelt scandal and Therme Group’s Ontario Place spa project, prioritizes developer interests over public accountability, risking environmental disasters and labour abuses, and threatening our democratic ability to contest unethical and destructive developments.
Indigenous sovereignty under threat
Lastly, the Act exempts developers from conducting archaeological assessments, directly violating treaty rights and the government’s duty under law to consult Indigenous nations. This erases Indigenous stewardship from land-use decisions, echoing Ford’s disregard for reconciliation in projects like Highway 413 and the Ring of Fire mining push.
But the Act is not a new precedent and fits closely with Ford’s anti-democratic playbook.
The Highway 413 Act bypassed federal assessments, endangering 220 wetlands and 29 at-risk species.
Bill 307 was struck down for using the notwithstanding clause to suppress public criticism. Over 114 Ministerial Zoning Orders (MZOs) have been issued since 2019, overriding local planning to hand out favours to private developers. Each case reveals a government hostile to public transparency and responsible governance.
A broad coalition of organizations and experts, including Environmental Defence, Nishnawbe Aski Nation, Ecojustice, and the Wildlife Conservation Society Canada, have all unanimously condemned the Act as a threat to our ecosystems and democracy. Constitutional experts warn its exemptions and gag orders risk Charter violations, mirroring Bill 307’s overreach.
We cannot trade our biodiversity, Indigenous rights and democracy for corporate deregulation, environmental destruction and short-term economic activity. The Protect Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act must be immediately repealed to prevent a future where corporate interests eclipse the public good. Evidence for Democracy urges all Ontarians to demand that their elected representatives hold this government accountable and defend the principles of justice, science and environmental stewardship that define our province.
Trevor Potts is the director of research and policy at Evidence for Democracy. Katherine Peel is a research associate at Evidence for Democracy.
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