Protecting the Great Lakes
Learn about Ontario’s plan to protect and restore the health of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin and create more opportunities for individuals and communities to get involved in local protection and restoration efforts.
The importance of the Great Lakes
The Great Lakes help make Ontario a great place to live. Whether you love to fish, swim, boat, camp, play on a sandy beach with your kids or walk along a shoreline trail, Ontario’s Great Lakes support an ecosystem that is unique in the world.
These beautiful lakes are an unparalleled treasure, holding one-fifth of all the surface fresh water on Earth.
Most Ontarians live within the watersheds of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River system. We all benefit from the Great Lakes – their resources provide us with drinking water and energy, food and recreational opportunities. The Lakes also provide the province with numerous economic advantages.
The Great Lakes regional economy is the world’s 3rd largest. Almost 50% of Canada’s manufacturing along with 83% of Ontario’s power generation and 95% of Ontario’s agricultural lands depend on the Great lakes-St. Lawrence River basin.
The Lakes support a rich array of plants, animals and ecosystems and are the foundation for Ontario’s strength and success.
The Great Lakes are under stress
The health of the Great Lakes is under threat from a number of factors – increased levels of harmful pollutants such as excess road salt and plastic pollution, urban growth, managing nutrients, increasing harmful and nuisance algae, hardened shorelines and invasive species. Over the last 15 years, changes in the Great Lakes have revealed disruptions to the food chain.
Climate change is also challenging the ability of the Great Lakes to be resilient to the impacts that can arise from severe weather and changes in water levels and in the thaw-and-freeze cycle.
We must protect them and, where we find they are in decline, we must restore them to good health so they remain drinkable, swimmable and fishable.
Given the importance of the Great Lakes to our economy, quality of life and environment, in 2015 Ontario established the Great Lakes Protection Act, which provides flexible tools to protect and restore the Great Lakes.
Strengthening Great Lakes protection
Protecting and restoring the Great Lakes is part of Ontario’s plan to protect our air, land and water.
One of the ways we protect the Great Lakes is through the Great Lakes Protection Act, which:
- ensures we establish and maintain monitoring and reporting programs
- commits to establishing at least one target to reduce algal blooms (established in 2018)
- allows the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry to establish targets to prevent the loss of wetlands
- improves consultation and engagement requirements and requires consideration of traditional ecological knowledge
- requires that we table comprehensive progress reports in the legislature every three years
- requires that we review Ontario’s Great Lakes Strategy every six years
- creates more opportunities for Ontarians to become involved in the protection and restoration of the ecological health of the Great Lakes St. Lawrence River Basin
- improves the capacity of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin so it can be resilient to the impacts of climate change
Funding for Great Lakes projects
Since 2018, Ontario has invested $67 million in 552 projects to safeguard the Great Lakes. During that time, 31 environmental clean-up actions have taken place across 17 Areas of Concern in the Great Lakes.
In 2024, Ontario invested an additional $6.1 million in multi-year funding in 30 new projects that will help restore the health of the Great Lakes. This investment supports Ontario’s commitments in the new Canada-Ontario Agreement on Great Lakes Water Quality and Ecosystem Health — a five-year agreement that sets out specific actions that the federal and provincial governments will take, together with Great Lakes partners, to restore, protect and conserve the water quality and ecosystem health of the Great Lakes. It also supports implementation of Ontario’s Great Lakes Strategy.
These projects focus on science and on-the-ground work to address critical issues facing the world’s largest surface freshwater lake system such as:
- Adoption of agricultural best practices and green infrastructure
- Public awareness and education on the important role of water
- advancing climate change adaptation and resilience efforts
- Contaminants in fish for consumption
- Fish habitat, invasive species and delisting of Areas of Concern
- Plastics
- Road salt
- Stormwater and groundwater management, and shoreline rehabilitation
- Water quality and pollution
The projects are run by:
- Indigenous communities and organizations
- conservation authorities
- environmental not-for-profits and for profits
- universities and colleges
- municipalities
The following table features 30 projects receiving multi-year funding to deliver on Ontario’s commitments in the new Canada-Ontario Agreement on Great Lakes Water Quality and Ecosystem Health. Additional projects will be announced soon.
23 projects announced in 2024 receiving $6.1 million in multi-year funding
| Recipient | Location | Description | Multi-year funding $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Concordia University | Basin wide | Strengthen understanding of human health risks associated with eating fish that may be contaminated by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are a group of human-made chemicals harmful to human and environmental health. To better assess PFAS levels, total organic fluorine concentrations will be measured, which provides a more comprehensive indicator of the presence of these chemicals. Communities have limited knowledge of levels of PFAS in Great Lakes fish. This important research will advance our understanding and provide relevant and recent science on PFAS implications to fish tissue. In the future, this data could help communities and decision makers to enhance monitoring this “forever chemical” which is persistent in the environment, or support fish consumption advisories. | $84,000 |
| Royal Military College of Canada | Basin wide | Use innovative technology to test reducing PFAS contamination in groundwater. Knowledge gained through this work will advance the field of PFAS remediation and assist decision makers in addressing PFAS contaminated sites. This work enhances our understanding of this “forever chemical” which is persistent in the environment. | $248,280 |
| University of Western Ontario | Basin wide | The study will provide decision makers with knowledge about how land use, climate change and other factors affect the amount of road salt entering Lake Ontario from groundwater. This knowledge can help evaluate the impacts of human activities and climate change on water quality and identify areas around Lake Ontario and other Great Lakes that are at risk of having high levels of chloride and other pollutants coming from groundwater. This work complements other salt research underway by adding value and insights on how direct groundwater discharge influences nearshore lake water quality and trends. | $258,720 |
| Lakehead Region Conservation Authority | Thunder Bay | Revitalize Fisherman's Park West and restore the waterfront with the help of Thunder Bay area communities. These initiatives will actively restore habitats, rejuvenate shorelines and advance progress towards restoring the Thunder Bay Area of Concern in Lake Superior. | $62,000 |
| Lakehead University | Multiple: Thunder Bay, Township of Nipigon, Red Rock, Town of Marathon | Remediate and restore the northern Lake Superior Areas of Concern (Thunder Bay, Nipigon Bay, Jackfish Bay and Peninsula Harbour). This includes proactive outreach, engagement with Indigenous communities, stakeholders and the public, and fostering consensus that clean up actions are complete. | $175,000 |
| Algoma University | Sault Ste. Marie | Continued implementation of the required clean up and restoration plan for the St. Marys River Area of Concern through community outreach. This includes engaging local industries on sediment dredging and on assessing the remaining issues such as restrictions on fish and wildlife consumption, and restrictions on dredging to help restore this Area of Concern. | $160,000 |
| Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority | Multiple towns and municipalities along and the Lake Huron and Georgian Bay shoreline including Huron-Perth, Huron County, Bruce County, Huron-Kinloss, South Bruce Peninsula, Lambton Shores, Sarnia | In the Main Bayfield Watershed, this community-driven project focuses on "Blue Schools curriculum (learning about water conservation and aquatic ecosystems), rain gardens and wetland enhancement. In Bayfield North, this project focuses on erosion control, cover crops and soil health. Along the Bruce Peninsula, Georgian Bay, and the South East Shores, this project focuses on stream restoration, low-impact development and water quality monitoring. These projects will also engage local teachers and students to encourage them to become Great Lakes stewards. | $310,000 |
| St. Clair Region Conservation Authority | Lambton County | Implement actions to restore the St. Clair River Area of Concern and respond to challenges for the Lambton Shores community by tackling local issues like Phragmites removal, beach clean-ups and soil erosion control to improve water quality. | $190,000 |
| Maitland Valley Conservation Authority | Huron-Kinloss, Township of Ashfield-Colborne, North Bruce Peninsula | Reduce excess phosphorus and high levels of bacteria entering the water, work with landowners to address erosion impacts, launch a new soil health program to support farmers, support local community restoration projects, and continue long-term water quality monitoring to ensure water quality is improving in the North Shore basin of Lake Huron. | $85,000 |
| Grey Suable Conservation Authority | City of Owen Sound, Town of Meaford | Support the unique needs of local communities in the Grey Sauble watershed by working with landowners to plant trees and cover crops, and install fencing and grassland buffers to improve water quality and reduce erosion. | $43,000 |
| Upper Thames River Conservation Authority | St. Clair Township, London, City of Woodstock | Work with First Nations in the Lake Erie basin to enhance water quality and reduce excess phosphorus from entering Lake Erie, emphasizing traditional ecological knowledge. Green infrastructure such as rain gardens will be deployed to combat climate change and runoff into the Thames River, Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie. Local St. Clair River watershed communities will benefit from invasive species removal, implementing natural methods to improve and maintain trail access and shoreline litter clean-ups. The project also includes a report and workshop benchmarking 10 years of work in the Great Lakes Teacher/Student Conference model. | $610,000 |
| Essex Region Conservation Authority | Windsor, Kingsville/Leamington | Engage local communities in clean-ups and host events like Family Fishing Day and children's water festivals in the Detroit River Area of Concern. In the Kingsville-Leamington area, promote sustainable development of the greenhouse sector, assist operators in mitigation efforts and monitor nutrient levels. This initiative also examines changes in phosphorus concentration and loads from greenhouse-influenced tributaries. | $450,000 |
| Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority | Chatham-Kent | Important science and year-around monitoring to provide the Great Lakes community with enhanced knowledge of nutrient loadings to support Ontario's phosphorus reduction target under the Lake Erie Action Plan. This work will lead to an improved understanding of the nutrients lifecycle and interactions in the Lake Erie basin and generate more accurate estimates of phosphorus and sediment loadings in the western basin. | $399,000 |
| Aamjiwnaang First Nation | Aamjiwnaang First Nation is adjacent to Sarnia | Deliver a youth stewardship program for Aamjiwnaang First Nation, providing youth with opportunities to be engaged and contribute to the implementation of the Thames River Shared Waters Approach watershed management plan and serve to strengthen awareness of Indigenous cultures, histories and traditional ecological knowledge and science-based understanding of the Thames River. | $25,000 |
| Governing Council of the University of Toronto | Multiple — work is basin wide. Recipient is located in Toronto | Develop an innovative modeling tool for the Great Lakes that combines regional, catchment, and farm-scale modeling. This tool will enhance phosphorus load predictions under different land use and climate change scenarios, bridging gaps in load reductions from fields to watersheds. This project will also develop an ecological model that will evaluate the impact of hydrodynamics, water temperature, nutrient and light availability to help understand the complex Cladophora-dreissenids-phytoplankton relationship. The model will also help determine the right mix of environmental conditions for effectively supporting management decisions in the Great Lakes. | $400,000 |
| Hamilton Conservation Authority | Hamilton | Tackle nutrient challenges in Hamilton Harbour through actions that decrease nutrient and sediment loads, especially from Spencer Creek. Further actions to reduce nutrients, sediment and stormwater entering urban and rural watercourses, promoting sustainable land use practices and implementing restoration projects. Includes work with landowners to promote sustainable land use practices, implement projects to reduce runoff and work with communities where there is water quality impairments. | $320,000 |
| Halton Region Conservation Authority | Hamilton | Reduce contaminants and sediment inputs through erosion mitigation, shoreline preservation, groundwater recharge and 12 low impact development projects. Crucial year-round monitoring of Grindstone and Indian Creek provides essential data for modeling and beneficial use impairments re-designation efforts. The projects also prioritize outreach and engagement with partners, Indigenous communities and the public. This initiative guarantees ongoing action for the restoration of the Hamilton Harbour Area of Concern. | $339,500 |
| Toronto and Region Conservation Authority | Toronto and several municipalities along or close to the shoreline of the western basin of Lake Ontario including: Niagara, Hamilton, Burlington, Mississauga, Pickering , Ajax | Implement the required clean up and restoration plan for the Toronto and Region Area of Concern, focusing on habitat restoration, infrastructure projects, Indigenous engagement and aquatic monitoring. This effort includes implementing a low impact development demonstration project in Phin Park, which drains into Lake Ontario. Additional projects help municipalities to launch inspection and maintenance programs for stormwater management facilities and green infrastructure province-wide and promote strategies for long-term community action in the Western Basin of Lake Ontario to address local ecosystem health concerns due to pollution and nutrient loadings. | $764,278.62 |
| Lower Trent Regional Conservation Authority | Quinte West, Belleville, Prince Edward County | Collaborate with urban and rural landowners to implement best management practices to reduce non-point sediment erosion and phosphorus loadings to clean up of the Bay of Quinte Area of Concern. This project also involves ongoing implementation of the long-term phosphorus management plan and related activities to complete all clean up by 2026, along with the publication of a long-term monitoring strategy. These efforts contribute to long-term outcomes for Lake Ontario, ensuring nutrient concentrations that foster a thriving and biodiverse Great Lakes ecosystem. | $400,000 |
| St. Lawrence River Institute | Cornwall | Work to advance the restoration of the St. Lawrence Area of Concern including sediment sampling and Polychlorinated Biphenyls analysis, developing a long-term strategy for community action and actions to restore ecosystem health. This work directly supports Ontario’s commitment to complete all remaining actions required to achieve delisting criteria and restore the areas that remain impaired in the St. Lawrence River by 2026. Work also includes identifying whether sources of mercury are contributing to temporal increases in mercury in fish tissues in key zones. | $349,579 |
| Mohawk Council of Akwesasne | Cornwall | Advance the required clean up and restoration plan for the St. Lawrence River Area of Concern and support communities in promoting safe fish consumption and leadership in the River Environment and Sensor Observation Network (REASON) project. Work includes the implementation of the Cornwall Sediment Strategy and other key initiatives such as a fish contaminant study to support meeting delisting criteria. These efforts align directly with Ontario's commitment to complete all remaining actions, aiming to achieve delisting and restore the 5 impaired beneficial uses in the St. Lawrence River by 2026. | $387,087.60 |
| Quinte Conservation Authority | Quinte West, Belleville, Prince Edward County | Continue the Bay of Quinte Coastal Wetland Monitoring program – an integral initiative that strengthens science and monitoring efforts for sustained ecosystem health. Use data from 15 key coastal wetlands in combination with Lake Ontario wetlands to assess the ecosystem's ability to support native species and ecological processes (for example, water quality, fisheries, vegetation, wildlife). This long-term data set provides a critical foundation for decision-making tools that gauge delisting criteria success and support local strategies and plans. | $96,332.50 |
| Ganaraska River Conservation Authority | Durham Region | Provide 90 students and 10 teachers in Durham Region with curriculum-connected, hands-on learning opportunities at the Lake Ontario shoreline to build awareness and appreciation of the multiple benefits that the Great Lakes provide. This work ensures students have knowledge of the role and connections that Great Lakes have in their community. | $25,000 |
Great Lakes Local Action Fund
Our Great Lakes Local Action Fund is supporting community projects that protect and restore coastal, shoreline and nearshore areas of the Great Lakes.
The second round of the Great Lakes Local Action Fund invested nearly $1.8 million in 36 projects to protect and improve the health of the Great Lakes and their connecting rivers, which have social and/or economic benefits to local communities.
Learn more about the Great Lakes Local Action Fund.
Setting clear targets
One clear way to strengthen protection of the Great Lakes is by setting targets. The Great Lakes Protection Act allows the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, in consultation with other Great Lakes ministers, communities and stakeholders, to set specific or general targets for local and lake-wide areas.
We have a goal to reduce phosphorus loadings to the western and central basins of Lake Erie by 40% by 2025 – a target set under Ontario's Great Lakes Protection Act to address algal blooms. The Canada-Ontario Lake Erie Action Plan serves as Ontario’s plan to achieve this target.
The Act will also provide the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry with authority to establish one or more targets for preventing the loss of wetlands.
The ability to set clear targets could help all partners work towards common restoration and protection outcomes. Setting targets will also help Ontario to manage the cumulative impacts of activities on the Great Lakes, including climate change, and respond to specific areas when needed.
Geographically-focused initiatives
The Act enables geographically-focused initiatives, or GFIs, as a tool for developing and implementing policies to address priority issues in a specific location.
Initiatives will be developed through a collaborative local process, and will build on existing work. Some of the activities associated with protecting the Great Lakes that could be addressed with GFIs could include:
- protecting natural heritage or hydrologic features
- coordinated efforts to improve beaches
- efforts to reduce excessive algae
Based on local input, geographically-focused initiatives could be developed by a municipality, conservation authority or the province.
In addition, developing these GFIs would require engagement with First Nations and Métis communities within the area, municipalities, the scientific community, environmental organizations, farming organizations, conservation authorities, and industrial, recreational and tourism sectors.
Great Lakes Guardians' Council
The Great Lakes Guardians’ Council was established by the Great Lakes Protection Act as a forum where Great Lakes Ministers, partners and stakeholders can talk about the environmental, economic and social importance of the lakes. Learn more about the Great Lakes Guardians’ Council and what was discussed during council meetings.
Strengthening reporting and monitoring
The Great Lakes Protection Act requires public progress reports on the Great Lakes every three years, with reports tabled in the Legislature. These reports would include results of monitoring programs, actions taken and a description of new and emerging issues. In addition, the act will also ensure that monitoring and reporting programs are established and maintained.