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.

Related: Ford government ramps up energy spending ahead of Ontario election