Ontario Announces Five-Year Climate Change Action Plan

On June 8, 2016, the Ontario government (Government) released a five-year Climate Change Action Plan (Action Plan), which builds on the Government's Climate Change Strategy released in November 2015, that set the long-term vision for meeting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets. The Action Plan outlines the key actions the Government will take to combat climate change at a cost of C$5.9-billion to C$8.3-billion. It acknowledges that there is a need to maintain a competitive economy while achieving environmental results — this will be the Government's biggest challenge as it attempts to "up the ante" in its climate change fight. It is noteworthy that until the Government passes laws to implement the various proposals, the Action Plan will have no legal effect.