Item - 2019.IE7.11

The Infrastructure and Environment Committee recommends that:

1. City Council receive the report (August 27, 2019) from the General Manager, Toronto Water for information.

This report, as requested by City Council on July 18, 2019, reports back on the Proposed 2020 Canada-Ontario Agreement Respecting Great Lakes Water Quality and Ecosystem Health (draft new COA) and its potential impacts to City policy, programs and costs in relation to water quality, storm water management and ecosystem health of Toronto's waterfront and Lake Ontario.

The COA is a federal-provincial agreement to restore and protect the Great Lakes basin ecosystem. The agreement sets out how the governments of Canada and Ontario will cooperate and coordinate efforts to restore, protect and conserve the Great Lakes. The draft new COA was posted for public comment on the Ontario Environmental Registry and Government of Canada COA consultation website until September 4, 2019. 

As directed by City Council, the City Manager requested an extension of the comment deadlines to October 7, 2019 from the Ontario Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) and Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC).  At the time of writing this report, decisions on the deadline extension were not available.  This report is being provided to Council based on the September 4 deadlines being applicable. Should extensions be granted, the City will submit comments to MECP and ECCC by October 7, 2019.     

City staff prepared two submissions with the same comments and recommendations. The submission to the MECP is in Attachment 1 and to ECCC in Attachment 2. The City's comments focus on delisting Toronto as a polluted Area of Concern in the Great Lakes Basin in Annex 5 of the draft new COA. Consistent with direction from City Council, staff comments propose amendments to this Annex committing the Provincial and Federal governments to fund the acceleration of the Don River and Central Waterfront Project, the City's most significant water pollution control initiative, aimed at delisting Toronto as an Area of Concern, and ultimately improving the ecosystem health of the city's waterfront and Lake Ontario.  

Additional comments are provided in regards to City interests including improving wastewater and stormwater infrastructure, reducing harmful pollutants, protecting source drinking water, and climate change and resilience. Opportunities for the federal and provincial governments to collaborate and support City initiatives that align with COA objectives are also provided in the City's comments.