Ontario's Ministry of Agriculture and Food (OMAF) is proposing an amendment to R.R.O. 1990,
Regulation 1096 – General (the Regulation) in order to update
the Schedule of Noxious Weeds.
This long overdue proposal would remove milkweed spp. (scientific name Asclepias spp.)
from the Schedule of Noxious Weeds in the Regulation. Milkweed is
an essential food for monarch butterflies, whose population has
crashed in recent years. Removing milkweed from the Schedule will
allow it to be planted widely, for example in gardens, on road
verges, and railway and powerline rights of way, as conservation
groups are encouraging people to do. This is a great
project to do with children.
"Under the Weed Control Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. W.5 (the Act),
every person in possession of land is obligated to destroy all
noxious weeds on it. However, this duty does not apply to noxious
weeds or weed seeds that are far enough away from any land used for
agricultural or horticultural purposes that
