Freeway entering Toronto Ontario Canada with city skyline in the background.

Ontario ramps up highways, mines and fossil fuel use while dialing back climate action

Ontario’s 2025 budget expands infrastructure and resource development while slashing funding for climate preparedness and curbing municipal powers to regulate pollution and traffic.

Carl Meyer and Fatima Syed report for The Narwhal.

In short:

Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government plans to cut emergency preparedness funding and slash wildfire response budgets, despite recent ice storms and ongoing evacuations in northern communities.
The province is recommitting to large infrastructure projects like Highway 413 and a pumped hydro energy project in Georgian Bay, while blocking cities from using congestion pricing and failing to fund new transit.
The Ford government is accelerating mining development in the Ring of Fire, despite unresolved environmental assessments and opposition from some First Nations over lack of proper consultation.

Key quote:

“We always put money aside for what we can’t predict might happen. But we’re there financially. We’ve always been there, whether it’s fire, floods or whatever may come.”

— Peter Bethlenfalvy, Ontario Finance Minister, addressing cuts to emergency preparedness and firefighting

Why this matters:

As climate change accelerates, Ontario is leaning into fossil fuels and car-based infrastructure while scaling back climate mitigation and adaptation. The province's emissions-free electricity supply has eroded sharply, down to 84% last year from 96% seven years ago, as natural gas replaces phased-out renewables. At the same time, Ontario’s budget slashes critical spending on wildfire management and emergency preparedness — services already strained by extreme weather. Environmental advocates say the current policy direction undermines environmental safeguards and public transparency, along with sidelining urban transit, clean building standards, and congestion reduction tools that could make cities more resilient and livable in a warming world.

thenarwhal.ca

Ontario ramps up highways, mines and fossil fuel use while dialing back climate action

Rising seas could displace millions, even with limited warming

Trump administration guts climate data and disaster response as world warms

Cuts to federal weather staffing are leaving communities vulnerable to tornadoes

As U.S. shifts away from clean energy and deeper into fossil fuels, China plows ahead

In a reversal, Trump administration greenlights stalled offshore wind project near New York

European green-labeled funds invested billions in oil and gas giants despite climate pledges

Outdated power grids in Black and brown communities block access to clean energy

Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have violated pollution laws are seeking permit renewals

One facility has emitted cancer-causing chemicals into waterways at levels up to 520% higher than legal limits.

Pennsylvania health advocates say Trump’s first 100 days in office have caused “100 harms” to local communities

“They're terrorizing these scientists because they want to keep them silent.”

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

"The reality is, we are not exposed to one chemical at a time.”

Two years into his term, has Gov. Shapiro kept his promises to regulate Pennsylvania’s fracking industry?

A new report assesses the administration’s progress and makes new recommendations

An open letter from EPA staff to the American public

“We cannot stand by and allow this to happen. We need to hold this administration accountable.”

New evidence links heavy metal pollution with wildfire retardants

“The chemical black box” that blankets wildfire-impacted areas is increasingly under scrutiny.