Ontario's Amends Regulations Under the Environmental Protection Act to Reduce Regulatory Burden

November 19, 2025 at 2:59 PM

Ontario's Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) has finalized amendments to two regulations under the Environmental Protection Act: O. Reg. 406/19 (Excess Soil Regulation) and O. Reg. 153/04 (Records of Site Condition Regulation). Changes aim to reduce regulatory burdens, enable greater reuse of excess soil and aggregates, lower costs and accelerate housing and infrastructure projects. Key updates include exemptions for aggregate reuse depots, flexible sampling requirements and streamlined processes for redevelopment. More details are available on the Environmental Registry (ERO postings 019-9196 and 019-9310).

The recent amendments to Ontario’s excess soil regulations offer benefits to aggregate producers that are as follows:

  • Reuse depots handling excavated aggregate with excess soil are now exempt from requiring a waste Environmental Compliance Approval, provided they meet specific criteria—such as notification to authorities, quantity limits and oversight by a qualified person. For pits and quarries licensed under the Aggregate Resources Act, duplication is avoided by deferring to existing ARA instruments.
  • The changes also expand reuse options for recycled engineered aggregate and sediment from stormwater ponds. Materials impacted only by asphalt or with naturally elevated concentrations may now qualify for reuse under clarified standards.
  • Infrastructure projects also benefit. When excess soil is reused between similar public infrastructure sites, it is no longer designated as waste, reducing planning and reporting requirements. This streamlining cuts costs and delays for producers supplying reused aggregate.

All amendments took effect in Oct. 2025, except for the restriction on landfilling clean excess soil, which begins Jan. 1, 2027.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss these amendments or other aspects of the Excess Soil Regulation or Records of Site Condition Regulation, please contact Alexandria Fisher from OSSGA or Reema Kureishy or Sanjay Coelho from MECP at MECP.LandPolicy@ontario.ca.

Links to the regulation as well as existing educational material can be found on MECP’s Handling Excess Soil website.