Question Period Note: Highway 413 Project, Ontario

• Protecting Canada’s aquatic ecosystems for future generations is a priority for my department, which is why we ensure that development projects are thoroughly assessed.
• The collaborative approach used on Highway 413 shows Canada’s and Ontario’s ability to work together while recognizing their respective jurisdictions on matters to do with the environment. Both Canada and Ontario have robust and transparent regulatory regimes to ensure the environment is protected before major projects are developed.
• To date, no Application for Authorization under the Fisheries Act has been received for Highway 413. DFO will assess the project’s potential impacts once detailed information is available.
• We will continue to work with the proponent, other government departments, and affected Indigenous groups to ensure that measures to protect fish and fish habitat and Indigenous rights are in place for this project.

BACKGROUND
• The Ontario Ministry of Transportation is proposing to construct and maintain a new highway located in the northwest Greater Toronto Area. As proposed, the Highway 413 Project would be 59 kilometres in length and pass through the municipalities of Vaughan, Caledon, Brampton, and Halton Hills. It would connect highway 400 (between Kirby Road and King-Vaughan Road), to the highway 401/407 interchange area, located near the northern end of highway 403.
• Early indications are that the road will involve installation of over 100 bridges and/or culverts, approximately 20 of them in, or upstream of, Critical Habitat for Redside Dace and upstream of Silver Shiner Critical Habitat (401/407 interchange area only).
• The final Recovery Strategy and Action Plan for Redside Dace was posted July 29, 2024. Therefore, the Department will move forward with the legal protection of the Critical Habitat through Regulation within 180 days.
• Following the Supreme Court of Canada decision on the constitutionality of the Impact Assessment Act, the Province of Ontario brought forward Judicial Review seeking to eliminate the federal impact assessment requirements for some projects in Ontario. In response to Ontario’s legal action, the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada developed a Memorandum of Understanding to create an administrative framework to facilitate collaboration between Ontario and federal departments on the assessment of effects in areas of federal jurisdiction, as part of the provincial assessment. This approach was proposed to Ontario in lieu of continuing on the path of a federal impact assessment.
• Requirements for the federal impact assessment were set aside on April 15, 2024 following agreement on cooperation with the Province was reached. The Fisheries Act and the Species at Risk Act (SARA) will continue to apply.
• The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, working with Ontario Ministry of Transportation has created a Working Group aimed at cooperation to understand requirements and seek opportunities for collaboration.
• There is a signed Memorandum of Understanding between Canada (Impact Assessment Agency) and the Province (Ministry of Transportation) that establishes a joint federal-provincial working group to collaborate on the assessment of impacts. The Working Group has met monthly since June 18, 2024.
• Any activity affecting Redside Dace’s critical habitat must comply with SARA and the Fisheries Act to ensure it does not jeopardize the species' survival or recovery.
• The Ontario Ministry of Transportation has not submitted any information to enable regulatory assessors to begin to assess the Project. DFO has communicated to the Ministry of Transportation the importance of providing information so that the regulatory assessors can begin to review. A draft of standard information requirements to conduct a jeopardy assessment for Highway 413 was provided to the proponent on August 20, 2024.
• DFO’s Fish and Fish Habitat Protection Program and Species at Risk Program have requested DFO Science to confirm the information components to be submitted by the proponent that could assist DFO to make a determination about the project as it relates to the s.73(3) pre-conditions of SARA. As well, FFHPP has requested that Science assess the adequacy of a cumulative effects assessment framework proposed by the Proponent. The Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat (CSAS) meeting to provide this science input is scheduled for September 9-10, 2024.
 

Species at Risk, Redside Dace
• My department has a legislated requirement to conserve and protect fish and fish habitat under the Fisheries Act and the Species at Risk Act, including the endangered Redside Dace and its habitat.
• My department is tracking this project closely to ensure that it will be assessed as efficiently as possible.