The Ford government is amalgamating Ontario’s 36 conservation authorities into just seven and creating a new centralized agency to govern them, promising the change will not result in job losses or changes to their mandate.

On Friday morning, Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks Todd McCarthy announced the changes alongside the head of the newly unveiled Ontario Provincial Conservation Authority.

McCarthy said the changes he was ushering in would “ensure faster, more transparent permitting and more front-line services” and replace a “fragmented, inconsistent and outdated” system.

The new agency will create a single digital permitting platform to be used by the remaining seven conservation authorities and will streamline and standardize performance standards.

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