Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks

The Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks is an Ontario government ministry responsible for protecting and improving the quality of the environment in the Canadian province of Ontario, as well as coordinating Ontario's actions on climate change. The ministry headquarters are located inside the Ontario Government Buildings.

Following the 2018 Ontario election, the Ministry's name was changed from the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change to the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks on June 29, 2018.

Responsibilities

Air quality

The MECP works to improve air quality through legislation, targeted programs, and partnership agreements with other neighbouring airsheds. This includes using a network of air quality stations that provide real-time air pollution data. The ministry communicates air quality to the public by providing an Air Quality Index based on ambient levels of ozone, fine particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, and total reduced sulphur compounds.

Brownfields

MECP is responsible for administering Ontario Regulation 153/04 which requires, under specific circumstances, a Record of Site Condition (RSC) to be submitted to the Ministry for acknowledgement. A RSC contains Environmental Site Assessments that ascertain the current condition of a site, including whether contamination exists on-site. The RSC is required when a property owner is choosing to change the property use from a less-sensitive to more-sensitive use (Example: Industrial Use to Residential Use) and is often required by the municipality's Chief Building Official before approval of a building permit.

Climate change

The ministry released a climate change action plan in 2007, setting greenhouse gas reduction targets for the province. It is the aim of the provincial government to reduce its emissions to:

6% below 1990 levels by 2014;
15% below 1990 levels by 2020; and
80% below 1990 levels by 2050.

The ministry released an update on its progress towards these targets in 2014, indicating that it had surpassed its 2014 target. It also indicated that current trends and policies would result in 170 megatonnes of emissions, or 69% of its 2020 target.

Under Ontario Regulation 452/09, any facility in Ontario that emits more than 25,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases annually is required to report their emissions. The reports must be verified by an accredited third party, to ensure it meets the requirements of ISO 14064-3. Reports are then submitted through Environment Canada's single window system. By 2017 year end, the cap and trade program brought in nearly $2 billion in revenue. After Progressive Conservative Premier Doug Ford was sworn into office on June 29, 2018, he revoked Ontario's cap and trade program on July 3, 2018.

Drinking water

Ontario municipalities have responsibility for building and maintaining drinking water systems, but the ministry regulates these systems to achieve acceptable standards in water quality and safety.

Ontario Parks

Since its integration into the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP), Ontario Parks has become part of a broader provincial mandate focused on environmental protection, conservation, and climate resilience. The agency continues to manage over 340 provincial parks and conservation reserves, now under MECP's oversight, which emphasizes ecological integrity, biodiversity, and sustainable recreation. In recent years, Ontario Parks has seen significant expansions, including the addition of 19 protected areas in 2025, and a historic investment of nearly $60 million to build and upgrade over 1,000 campsites across the province, marking the largest expansion in 50 years. The ministry replaced the Class Environmental Assessment process with a streamlined Project Evaluation Policy to better align with MECP's regulatory framework. Ontario Parks operates under a Special Purpose Account and is guided by the Ontario Parks Board of Directors, which advises on strategic planning and long-term conservation goals.

Ontario Provincial Conservation Authority

In October 2025, the Ontario government created the Ontario Provincial Conservation Authority to oversee the 36 conservation authorities in the province, and to merge them into seven, through the Conservation Authorities Act. After public consultation, this number increased to nine in March 2026, with implementation to take place in May.

Other

Environmental assessments
Environmental approvals
Environmental registry
Environment maps
Great Lakes and Watersheds
Pesticides

List of ministers

{| class="wikitable" style="width: 90%"

! Name

! colspan=2|Term of office

! Tenure

! Political party (Ministry)

! style="width: 400px;"| Note

! colspan=4|Minister of the Environment

! rowspan=9; style="background:;"| PC (Davis)||

| style="background:;"| ||George Kerr|||||| (first instance)||

| style="background:;"| ||James Auld||||||||

| style="background:;"| ||Bill Newman||||||||

| style="background:;"| ||George Kerr|||||| (second instance) (2 years, 300 days in total)||

| style="background:;"| ||George R. McCague||||||||

| style="background:;"| ||Harry Craig Parrott||||||||

| style="background:;"| ||Keith Norton||||||||

| style="background:;"| ||Andy Brandt||||||||

| style="background:;"| ||Morley Kells||||||

! rowspan=2; style="background:;"| PC (Miller)

| style="background:;"| ||Susan Fish||||||||

| style="background:;"| ||Jim Bradley|||||| (first instance)

! style="background:;"|Liberal (Peterson)

| Served in same role under three different Premiers.

| style="background:;"| ||Ruth Grier||||||

! rowspan=3 ; style="background:;"|NDP (Rae)

! colspan=4|Minister of Environment and Energy||

| style="background:;"| ||Bud Wildman||||||||

| style="background:;"| ||Brenda Elliott||||||

! rowspan=7 ; style="background:;"|PC (Harris)

| style="background:;"| ||Norm Sterling||||||to be continued||

! || colspan=4|Minister of the Environment||

| style="background:;"| ||Norm Sterling||||||||

| style="background:;"| ||Tony Clement||||||||

| style="background:;"| ||Dan Newman||||||||

| style="background:;"| ||Elizabeth Witmer||||||||

! || colspan=4|Minister of Environment and Energy|| rowspan=5; style="background:;"|PC (Eves)

| style="background:;"| ||Chris Stockwell||||||to be continued||

! || colspan=4|Minister of the Environment||

| style="background:;"| ||Chris Stockwell||||||||

| style="background:;"| ||Jim Wilson||||||||

| style="background:;"| ||Leona Dombrowsky||||||

! rowspan=5; style="background:;"| Liberal (McGuinty)

| style="background:;"| ||Laurel Broten||||||||

| style="background:;"| ||John Gerretsen||||||||

| style="background:;"| ||John Wilkinson||||||||

| rowspan=2; style="background:;"| ||rowspan=2|Jim Bradley||||||rowspan=2| (second instance) 7 years, 344 days in total||rowspan=2|Served in same role under three different Premiers.

| ||

! rowspan=4; style="background:;"| Liberal (Wynne)

! || colspan=4|Minister of the Environment and Climate Change||

| style="background:;"| ||Glen Murray||||||||Resigned and retired from politics.

| style="background:;"| ||Chris Ballard||||||||

! || colspan=4|Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks

! rowspan=6; style="background:;"|PC (Ford)

| style="background:;"| ||Rod Phillips||||||

| style="background:;"| ||Jeff Yurek||||||

| style="background:;"| ||David Piccini||||||

| style="background:;"| ||Andrea Khanjin||||||

| style="background:;"| ||Todd McCarthy||||Present||