On March 30, 2026, Ontario’s Species Conservation Act (“SCA”)1 came into force, repealing the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”).2 The SCA represents the most significant overhaul of Ontario’s species at risk framework in nearly two decades. It seeks to protect species while supporting economic development and shifts the responsibility for compliance and environmental management from the government to project proponents.
The new SCA system replaces the ESA’s prohibition-based model with a “registration-first” approach that emphasizes project-level conservation planning, professional accountability, and reduced ministerial oversight.3 For industries such as resource extraction, housing, and infrastructure, the SCA changes how project impacts are authorized, how species protection is planned and monitored, and how compliance risks are managed.
