Ontario Streamlining Approval Processes for Infrastructure, Mining, and Resource Projects

New Legislation sets ambitious goal of reducing government review process by 50 percent

Today Premier Ford and Minister of Energy and Mines Stephen Lecce announced the second successive piece of legislation aimed at “Protecting Ontario” with the introduction of the Protect Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act, 2025, which aims to cut red tape and reduce duplicative processes for major infrastructure, mining and resource development projects.

Highlights

• The Protect Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act, if passed, would:
• Establish special economic zones for priority projects, enabling faster permitting and streamlined approvals through the new One Project, One Process (1P1P) model.
• A special economic zone will consist of a geographic area that could include one or more projects of critical or strategic importance and will vary in size where it could be from a parcel of land to a large area
• The proposed 1P1P approach includes coordinating permitting for designated mine projects and moving away from companies having to engage with multiple permitting ministries and Indigenous communities on each activity and instead take an integrated approach where the whole project would be considered by ministries in parallel with a dedicate project management team.
• Cut government review times for mining development by 50% through binding service standards, while continuing to uphold Indigenous consultation requirements.
• Speed up housing, transit, and infrastructure builds by introducing a “registration-first” model for certain species permits — allowing work to begin as soon as requirements are met, while maintaining strong environmental protections and enforcement.
• Launch a $20 million annual Species Conservation Program — over four times current funding — to support expert- and community-led conservation initiatives.
• The legislation is proposing to make immediate amendments to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and then would later repeal the ESA to replace it with the new Species Conservation Act (SCA).
• Eliminate registration fees for the Environmental Activity and Sector Registry, saving businesses $2.6 million annually.
• Protect critical mineral supply chains by enabling the restriction, transfer, denial, or cancellation of mining claims and leases from bad actors.
• Strengthen energy security by restricting foreign state-owned or controlled companies, while streamlining approvals for responsible domestic projects.
• Limiting participation of foreign jurisdictions will enable a mechanism to respond to future trade restrictions imposed by other countries which target the Canadian/Ontario economy.  

Want to understand how this could impact you? Read our full analysis here.