Resource Management and Safety Act, 2025
Sponsored by Harris, Hon. Mike · Royal Assent received. Statutes of Ontario 2025, chapter 17
- Renames and updates wildland fire management rules, creates a new legal framework for storing carbon underground, and makes changes to oil/gas well safety powers and surveyor licensing.
- Renames the Act to the Wildland Fire Management Act, replacing 'forest fire/area' with 'wildland fire/area'
- Re-enacts section 4 to let the Minister appoint or designate fire officers with defined roles
- Creates new permits for outdoor fires outside restricted fire zones during fire season
- Requires certain entities to have a wildland fire management plan, and adds remediation orders and administrative penalties
- Creates a new Act allowing carbon storage sites, defined as wells and underground repositories used to store carbon dioxide
- Prohibits research, evaluation, and carbon storage activities unless done under a permit issued under the Act
- Makes pore space rights part of surface property rights, but lets Cabinet vest them in the Crown by regulation with compensation rules