Ontario’s Highway 413 to move ahead without federal review — again

The federal government will not subject Ontario’s Highway 413 to an environmental review, clearing the way for construction on the project to begin as soon as 2025.

Environmental Defence, an advocacy group, tried to urge the review forward in October after Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives introduced a bill that weakened Ontario’s environmental oversight of Highway 413. The charity made a formal request to federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, who was mandated by law to respond by mid-January.

The latest request for that federal oversight was, to some, a last hope for stopping the project before shovels hit the ground.

But on the Friday before Christmas — with the governing Liberals in turmoil following the resignation of former finance minister and deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland and a controversial cabinet shuffle — the federal government quietly posted a notice online, saying there will be no review. 

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The decision is a “sad commentary on both our provincial and federal governments” that leaves few avenues to prevent “environmental destruction,” Environmental Defence executive director Tim Gray said in a statement Monday morning.

If built, Highway 413 will connect suburbs north and west of Toronto, running through Ontario’s Greenbelt and prime farmland. It would also slice across the habitats of species at risk, including the western chorus frog and redside dace, a tiny, endangered minnow.

The federal government first designated the priority project of the Doug Ford Conservatives for review — called an impact assessment — in 2021, citing concerns about federally protected species along the route. That kicked off a process that stalled the project for three years, during which the federal government sounded alarms about Highway 413’s environmental impact, key information Ontario seemed to be missing and a lack of attention to Indigenous consultation, according to documents obtained by The Narwhal.

But Guilbeault called it off in 2024 due to a pending constitutional challenge. Instead, the minister opted to form a working group with the province to look at the environmental impacts of the highway. 

The notice of the federal government’s recent decision is signed by Terence Hubbard, the president of the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, which carries out federal environmental reviews. Usually, Guilbeault would sign off on such an announcement. But in it, Hubbard wrote that the minister delegated the decision to him. 

Hubbard said the federal government already has tools to address impacts to federally protected species and concerns raised by Indigenous communities. In particular, he pointed to federal rules covering species at risk, migratory birds and waterways — all laws that require Ontario to seek federal permits before starting construction. 

Hubbard also said the federal government can handle environmental issues around Highway 413 through its working group with the province.

It’s not yet clear what information was factored into Hubbard’s decision. In the notice, Hubbard said he relied on a report by agency staff, which would eventually be made public but wasn’t yet available Monday morning. 

Guilbeault’s office redirected questions to the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada. In a statement, the agency said Guilbeault delegated the “administrative” task because “there is a desire to make decisions in an efficient fashion.” The agency also said Canada has a “robust regime” of laws to ensure development happens sustainably. Its working group with Ontario will continue to meet until the federal government makes decisions about key environmental permits, or until the two governments reach consensus, the statement said.

The office of Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria didn’t respond to a request for comment Monday.

Sarkaria has said the Ford government intends to start doing early construction work for Highway 413 as soon as next year, but a few obstacles may still remain.

In his statement, Gray pointed to the possibility the federal government will step in on Ontario’s management of redside dace. Some of the last places where the minnow can survive in Canada fall along Highway 413’s route, and a new federal strategy for the species’ recovery mandates the federal fisheries minister to issue an order by late January that could bar development in those areas. But it’s not clear how far the federal Liberals are willing to go on that front: they’ve already permitted development in redside dace habitat for years, even as the species has rapidly declined. 

Another potential snag for the province is an ongoing strike by the Ontario government’s engineers. Represented by the Professional Engineers Government of Ontario union, the engineers withdrew their work from Highway 413 and other key infrastructure projects this fall, raising the risk of delays. 

Updated Dec. 23, 2024, at 4:40 p.m. ET: This article was updated to include comment from the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada that was received after publication.